


A Comfortable Place

by Jknight3135



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F, Friends With Benefits, Low drama, Slice of Life, Slow Burn, comfortable, contains girlcock, fwb to lovers, idiots not realizing they're in love, intersex Adora, minor Transphobia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-10-22
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:55:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 53,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25712434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jknight3135/pseuds/Jknight3135
Summary: Struggling through a particularly stressful entry to the new school year Adora desperately needs a way to let off steam. She finds it when Catra saves her in a fight, and Catra finds the same in Adora.A comfortable, low drama story meant to warm the heart.
Relationships: Adora & Catra (She-Ra), Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Comments: 215
Kudos: 629





	1. When Hel Froze Over

**Author's Note:**

> This is really a story formed of a lot of little scenes. If you've been reading too much dramatic angsty fanfic (like me) and need a relief this is it.

**A Comfortable Place**

Chapter 1: When Hel froze over 

  
  


Adora was tired.

She had been up since early that morning and it was now late in the evening, the warmth of the sun was quickly fading from the early autumn air but the coolness felt refreshing after the strenuous day. She had been in classes all day and then HEMA practice afterward. She had practically had to elbow her way through the cafeteria to get lunch, and all without a smoke or break of any kind.

This wouldn’t normally have been that bad. Pretty average in fact, but the college in the next valley over, Helmand regional college, had closed. Some sort of embezzlement or something had been exposed and the school did not have the funds to deal with the fallout and had abruptly gone belly up. So a lot of students from there had been transferred here for the start of the fall semester. ‘Transferred’ was a generous term, dumped, shunted, and forced, more accurately described the process. Midland technical university wasn’t a very large school to begin with and the large influx of students was taking its toll on staff, students, and infrastructure.

It had been like this since the start of the semester a few weeks ago. Added on top of the normal everyday stress of a busy college student and she was running ragged. She could feel things starting to slip away from her, making mistakes on her work, falling behind in practice. It was getting hard to focus and she needed a release, something to help her decompress before she blew her top and did something stupid, or burned out completely.

It certainly didn’t help that Helmand had not been the premier school in the region, it’s students often shortened the name to just Hel. Adora didn't like to think of it as having bad students and delinquents, but she couldn't deny it's reputation for such. The transition was not going smoothly, she had to spend more time and effort on what should have been simple tasks. On campus dining was constantly packed offering no seating and even less food, all of the administration offices were overloaded and useless, faculty were struggling with overloaded classes, incorrect assignments and lack of rooms. 

Different cliques from both schools were trying to sort things out, groups from Helmand trying to stake claims and Midland groups trying to hang on to their own hangouts. There had been more than a few fights. A string of expulsions and even a few arrests had started almost as soon as the semester had. It was exhausting and stressful, and god she needed a cigarette.

She pulled the collar of her jacket up and scowled. She never brought cigarettes to campus, not a lot of places to smoke even if she did, though the no smoking signs didn’t seem to deter the Helmand students very much. She sighed, that was a bit disingenuous of her, she was sure there were good people coming from Helmand too. 

At least the day was over.

* * *

Catra sighed quietly and leaned back against the cold brick. She was under the bleacher stand for the old football field on the edge of campus, her dorm was out past the baseball diamond behind it and she had stopped here for a smoke before getting to the no smoking area around the dorm. Getting to the dorm was a pain being out here on the old end of campus but at least she had a dorm room. Having transferred before Helmand closed she was in a better position than most of the other students coming in. She was not too happy to see so many of her old classmates here however. She had worked hard to get the grades to transfer to Midland and get away from Helmand, now half the student body had been shunted here because Hel finally froze over and went under.

_Long time coming._ Catra thought to herself bitterly. She was glad the school was closed, she just wished it hadn’t spent it’s last breath cursing her.

She slipped the pack out of her coat pocket, took a cigarette between her lips, and lit it with a cheap dollar store lighter. 

At least she had this. 

She took a long drag and blew it out, wispy blueish smoke curled around her briefly before being blown away by the breeze. The orange glow of the ember illuminating her face beneath the otherwise black shadow of the bleachers. The crunch of feet on gravel pulled her eyes up, four toughs from Helmand were on the walking path a dozen yards away from her. She knew they were from Helmand, they had that look about them, a look she knew from the time she had spent there. They talked quietly together and then stepped off the path and into various bits of cover. 

She had seen this kind of thing before. It could mean all kinds of trouble, shakedowns for cash, threats, beatdowns, even rape on occassion. It was always bad news, it made Catra thankful for her night vision. No one had ever managed to catch her unaware like this, but she had heard of it happening pretty frequently. 

Midland students didn’t set up ambushes in the dark, she had been here long enough to know that. In the shadow of the bleachers behind her they hadn’t seen her, and she put out her cigarette on the pillar to make sure they couldn’t. Her instincts told her to move, to get out before she became implicated in whatever this was. That’s probably what she would have done at Helmand, she had gotten through it by keeping her head down and not getting involved. This wasn’t Helmand though, this was Midland, this was what she had slaved away to get to. This was what all her hard work was for. Helmand had come after her to try and ruin her escape. She forced down her instinct to run, she had something good here for once and she would fight for it, tooth and claw if she had to.

Catra narrowed her eyes, her natural night vision made it easy to keep track of them even in the darkness but she was still concealed as she slowly moved towards the footpath, senses tingling, adrenaline already beginning to flow through her veins and she had to force herself to stay calm. They were up to something and she doubted it was anything good. Before long the crunching of gravel twitched her ears again and a girl came walking down the path. Tall, strong and blond, Catra half recognized her. She had seen the girl on campus before, but didn’t know who she was other than that she was hot, which was probably why Catra remembered her, and that she was ‘popular’ a jock of some kind she couldn’t remember. Her hair was tied back in a loose ponytail and a weary looking varsity jacket hung loosely on her. Her hands stuck deep in the front pockets as she walked slightly hunched. 

She looked dead tired.

Two of the goons stepped out in front of her and two behind her in the dark space between two street lamps, the air almost hummed with the snap of tension. Catra was close enough now to hear the conversation.

“Well well well, what have we here?” The lead tough crowed. She recognized him, an ugly, thick limbed rough that got into Helmand with a football scholarship, presumably because no one else applied. He was a big wig at Helmand, probably unhappy now that he was at the bottom of the food chain here. So he was trying to muscle in on one of Midland's popular students.

Catra could see what they were too stupid to notice, the way Adora’s body moved in response to being surrounded. Shifting her weight, hands coming out of her pockets, changing her stance, she knew what was happening and was ready to fight. Catra remembered another thing about her. Her name was Adora, and she was the swordfighting team captain. Midland was a regional champion as proclaimed by the patches on the varsity jacket. Catra had heard her name around campus, for her swordsmanship, her looks, and the rumors...

Adora didn’t respond to the challenge and the lead tough sneered at her. “Come on now don’t be like that, we’re here to perform an experiment.” He leered at her looking her up and down, despite the fact that the slightly oversized varsity jacket and basketball shorts did nothing to accentuate her body.

“Oh yeah?” Adora asked, her eyes darting from one to the next trying to watch all four of them.

“Rumor has it that you’re a freak.” One of the other goons said unable to contain his idiot glee.

Adora’s face scrunched up in disgust. Seemed like she knew what they were talking about, Catra had a good guess too.

“They say you’ve got a dick, that you’re not really a girl.” The leader confirmed.

Catra had heard those rumors, or rather she had heard speculation as to how big it was, there wasn’t usually an ‘if’ to the rumors. Catra had no idea where the rumors had started, probably a bad joke at some party or something gone out of hand. Catra suspected these goons didn’t believe it either, they were just taunting her with it.

Adora smirked. “Why? Did you lose yours?”

The leader’s face hardened. “Come on, drop your shorts and show us and then we can compare eh?”

Catra edged out of the shadows and into the pool of light cast by the street lamp behind the two in front of Adora. Her eyes met Adora’s and understanding passed between them in the blink of an eye. Just like that Adora flew into action she whirled and delivered a roundhouse kick to the face of one of the toughs behind her, he hit the ground before he even knew what had happened. Catra stepped forward and took out the knees of the one next to the leader dropping him hard to the ground. The leader took a wild swing at her surprised by her sudden violent appearance, she caught his arm and fluidly rolled him over her shoulder in a judo throw landing him on top of his companion. She glanced up to check Adora just in time to watch her deliver a teeth chattering uppercut knocking the fourth back. The one she had kicked was getting to his feet again and Catra went for him, she feinted a punch at his head twisting at the last moment to hit him in the solar plexus driving the breath out of him and causing him to double over gasping. Catra followed this up with a knee to the face, she felt a crack as his nose broke. He went down clutching his face and coughing. Her ears twitched and pivoted back, she whirled as the leader lunged at her, Adora stopped him short catching him dead in the stomach with a kick, he fell to his knees retching and Adora gave him another kick across the face knocking him flat. The last one wound up a wild haymaker aimed at Adora but Ctara grabbed his arm before he could deliver and twisted it behind his back, she leveraged her hold and catapulted him over her slamming him into the ground with another throw knocking him senseless.

Just like that the four of them were on the ground, unconscious or unwilling to get up. Adora stepped around them and they walked down the path together leaving the toughs behind without a word between them. 

Catra calmed herself as they walked, letting her blood slow back down from the frantic explosive moment of action. She didn’t say anything and neither did Adora for a few long moments. Catra shook her pack of cigarettes open and slipped one out. She noticed Adora glancing at the pack and so she offered it to Adora. The look on the blond girl's face was that of someone who had seen an angel come to deliver them from evil, not a disheveled magikat handing her a smoke. She took one eagerly and brought it to her lips. Catra fished out her lighter and managed to light hers before the cheap lighter quit and refused to start again no matter how many times she flicked the wheel. She looked to Adora worried the girl would shatter apart after holding herself together through the fight, but she just clamped the cigarette between her lips and leaned in close. 

You could light a cigarette from the ember of another, but only if you puffed on it to make the ember burn bright. Catra almost screwed it up when she forgot to breathe at all as Adora leaned in close to her. She managed to scramble herself together and suck in deep enough for Adora to nurse hers to light. The static crackle of her presence fading as she leaned back and away again leaving Catra a little stunned. The image of her features, smooth and strong, lit by the gentle orange glow of the ember and reflecting in her eyes burning itself into her brain.

“Thank you.” Adora said moving the cigarette to the corner of her mouth.

“Don’t mention it, nothing new for me.” Catra replied, blinking away the moment.

“So you’re from Helmand then?” Adora asked.

“Transferred here, a few months back.” Catra confirmed. “Was hoping I would get away from shitheads like them, but I guess not.” 

“I’m Adora by the way.” She said after a moment of silence. 

“I know.” Adora rolled her eyes like she got that a lot. “Catra.”

Adora nodded the glowing ember of her cigarette bobbing with her head. “Do you live in Krampt?” Adora asked nodding to the distant lights of the building on the far side of the old baseball diamond.

Edmund B. Krampt was the man the dorm building had been named after, but everyone just called it cramped because it was old and worn down in addition to being small. On the plus side the rooms were so small they were one person each, that was nice at least.

“Unfortunately.” Catra replied prompting a chuckle from Adora.

“I live in the apartments a bit further on.”

“I figured, seemed pretty nice when I looked at em’.” Catra said thinking back to her brief glance through the brochure before seeing the price and throwing it away.

“It is, a bit far away but it’s not a big deal.” Adora replied with a shrug.

They lapsed into silence once again. 

Catra decided then and there that she wanted this to go further. She wanted to start some kind of relationship since she didn’t have any connections here. She was the reclusive type, she appreciated her alone time more than most, but she still wanted friends, just not many of them. So normally she would let the conversation die here, they would part ways and that would be that. There was something about Adora though that drew her, that made her want to connect with her. An easy comfort that flowed between them even though they had just met. So instead of letting them lapse into silence she opened her mouth.

“So how does a rumor like that get started anyway?” She asked before her brain could catch up with the question and decide that was a fucking stupid thing to say.

Adora cocked an eyebrow at her. “What rumor?”

The slight smile on her face told Catra she knew exactly what she meant but she was going to make her say it anyway just to make her feel more awkward. That was fair she probably got asked about it a lot.

“That you have a dick.” Catra clarified bluntly, having been caught she elected not to dance around the subject.

“Because it’s true.” She replied simply.

Catra stopped in her tracks. “What? Really?”

Adora turned back to look at her. “Yep.” She shrugged. “Born that way.”

“As a lesbian this raises interesting questions for me.” Catra mumbled, letting her mouth get ahead of her brain. Again.

Adora laughed. “What, you want to see it? See if it’s the boobs or the dick that makes the difference?” She chuckled.

Catra fumed a little at letting her mouth run away from her, but she found she _did_ want to see it, half because she didn’t quite believe Adora and half because… well because that seemed hot, and Adora was _already_ hot. “Yeah, yeah I do.”

Adora chuckled again. “You’ll have to suck it then, I don’t get it out for nothing.” She quipped turning back to continue walking.

“Deal.”

Adora stopped, she turned back the cigarette hanging from her lip. “You serious?”

“Yeah.” Catra replied.

* * *

  
  


They had ducked into one of the dugouts at the baseball diamond and Adora was leaned against the lip. Catra had her shorts undone and was pulling them down, she looked up at her those cat eyes glowing in the darkness. Adora almost couldn’t believe what was happening, was she really about to do this? Catra was a complete stranger, admittedly one that had just saved her ass but still a stranger. Catra slipped her fingers under the band of her boxers and pulled them down too.

“You weren’t lying.” Catra said looking from her cock up to her face again.

“Were you?” Adora asked, feeling heat rise to her cheeks. 

This wasn’t her first time by a fair margin, but it had been a long time, and never like this. Never a heated tryst in the dark with someone she barely knew. That wasn’t the way she did things, it wasn’t the way relationships worked for her regardless of how she wanted them to go. There was something about Catra though, the way those eyes danced with a cocky mischief, the casual intimacy, it was… easy to let her continue, no anxious knot in her gut that preceded her other sexual advances, no expectations or reputations, just blowing off steam. After everything that had been going on and the stress weighing down on her day after day without a break she was a little high strung. She was being impulsive, a little reckless she admitted to herself in some small part of her brain, but... she looked down at Catra, those mismatched eyes and the mischievous twinkle. This was simple, easy, uncomplicated, that was exactly what she needed right now, and Catra was not only attractive, she was more than a little exotic, Magikats weren’t common around here. Adora found that excited her a little bit. Maybe she was into Magikats? 

She could unpack that later.

“No.” She smiled cockily. “Never done this before though.”

Adoras chuckle cut into a gasp as Catra leaned in and pulled the head of her cock into her mouth, warm breath ghosting over her before tentative lips teased at her. Adora breathed deeply as her member quickly hardened from Catra’s gentle teasing. Catra was inexperienced but eager, her tongue was a little rougher than a humans and longer too. Adora sighed as Catra pulled back letting her cock spring up stiff and wet and chilly in the early autumn air.

“Wow, you’re… uh big.” Catra said slowly looking up at her past her now erect member.

Adora chuckled breathily, Catra was getting to her despite her inexperience. “Yeah, I got the wrong genes but at least they’re good wrong genes.”

Catra rolled her eyes, a very exaggerated gesture due to the fact they were different colors and glowed in the dim light. She didn’t make anything of it though and shortly went back to exploring her, taking the head of Adora’s cock into her mouth again. She brushed a strand of hair back and bobbed her head locking her lips around her member and sucking. Adora groaned as Catra’s lips moved up and down her cock while her tongue slithered around the base pressing against the pulsing vein there. Catra slowly grew more confident and increased her speed and the strength of her movements driving Adora nuts. Catra clearly wasn’t ready to take more than half her member, but she wasn’t gagging either which was impressive for a first time. Adora certainly wasn’t about to complain despite her instinct to grip her hands into Catra’s wild mane and pull her deeper.

Adora leaned back and closed her eyes just focusing on the warm wet sensation of Catra’s mouth, the massaging tongue and soft lips. It had been a long time since she had someone else take care of her and with all that had been going on she was a little pent up. So it was no surprise that it didn’t take all that long for her to reach her limit.

“Ffffuck, Catra I’m gunna.” She grunted out opening her eyes and leaning forward.

Catra let her cock slip from her mouth and moved her lips to the side kissing down to the base and stroking with her hand until Adora tensed and climaxed. She grunted as her body went rigid, spasming and bucking her hips against Catra’s hand until she sat back spent.

“Wow that was a lot.” Catra commented looking back at the liberal splatter on the dugout floor.

“I was a little pent up, I really needed that.” Adora sighed leaning back with a soft happy smile as warm bubbly contentment spread through her.

Catra chuckled deep and husky, a tone Adora recognized as arousal. “Hehe yeah, that was fun.”

“Time to return the favor.” Adora said as she pulled her pants back up.

“What?” Catra asked being snapped out of her reverie.

“You didn’t think I wouldn’t get you off too did you?” Adora asked, raising an eyebrow.

* * *

Catra had her back against the wall of the dugout, her legs draped over Adora’s shoulders, feet locked together pulling Adora into her. Adora had her mouth and a hand in her core and she was _very_ good. Catra arched her back and mewled as Adora’s tongue slipped around her clit fingers digging and curling inside her. She was _strong,_ easily lifting Catra and pinning her to the wall, but also gentle, delicate, precise. She was confident and knew what she was doing, it had taken her only moments to seek out Catra’s weak spots and exploit them. She had been reduced to a panting wreck so quickly it would have made her mad at herself if it hadn’t been _so good._ It had been a while since Catra had any sex, with her face to the grindstone to get out of Helmand she hadn’t had a lot of time in the last two years to seek it out and the few times she had they had been quick, empty, and unsatisfying. She had given up on it and focused on her schoolwork instead. It wasn’t what Catra had expected going into this either, she hadn’t expected Adora to _insist_ on returning the favor. Most of the women she had slept with hadn’t even tried to return the favor, she was the ‘top’ she got her pleasure from giving, not receiving. The ones that had tried simply hadn’t been good. She wondered briefly if Adora was exceptional, or if the women she had been with before we’re just shitty.

“Fuck!” She panted. “Fuck fuck fuck fuck.”

She grabbed Adora’s head, she couldn’t pull her in any harder but she couldn’t fully control herself either. Adora was good at this and she knew it. 

Stars exploded in her vision and she gasped as electricity arced up her spine. A few burning seconds of ecstasy before she nearly collapsed against the dugout wall. Adora extracted herself from between her now weak legs and smiled up at her.

“I’ve done this before.” Adora teased a cocky grin on her face.

“I could make you scream if you had the right plumbing.” Catra defended without much vehemence.

Adora laughed and gently let Catra down, it took her a moment to make her legs behave enough to really support her. They were unsteady and weak after Adora had worked her over. She recovered enough to lean against the wall and catch her breath. That had been _good,_ and she had needed it more than she would admit. Adora was grinning at her, a stupid self-satisfied grin that on anyone else wold have made Catra claw them. On Adora though? She just rolled her eyes and couldn't stop a smirk from splitting her own face, that was the most she would allow. This was… comfortable, Adora was comfortable in a way she couldn’t describe, the warmth of her stayed with her as they came down from their spontaneous tryst.

It was propper dark now and the only light came from a lone flood light illuminating the diamond, though Catra wasn’t much inconvenienced. They straightened themselves out and continued back onto the path towards the dorms.

“Hey, would you want to…” Adora paused debating in her head. “Do this again sometime?”

“Sure, I’ve never had a booty call before.” Catra replied with a grin.

Adora let out a snort but didn’t challenge it. “Sure, call me any time.”

They exchanged numbers and went their separate ways, but they texted each other, talking late into the night.

* * *

Catra lay in her bed staring up at the ceiling, she was tired and had to get up early tomorrow. Her phone lay on her chest, blueish light seeping out from underneath it being the only light source in the room, she waited for it to buzz with another message from Adora. They had been talking for hours now but Catra was too invested in the conversation to let it go regardless of how tired she was. They had talked about a lot of things, class, music, movies, normal stuff like they were friends. Again it was comfortable, they clicked together, it didn’t matter that they had met in a fight and then had a spontaneous quickie in the dark. She hoped Adora felt the same and wasn’t just continuing out of politeness. It didn’t seem like it.

The phone buzzed and she picked it up squinting into the stark brightness.

Adora: Hey you said you got out of your stats class at 11 right?

Yeah why? >

Adora: Do you have another class after that?

No, I usually go get lunch afterwards. >

Adora: Perfect, I get lunch then too, want to meet up?

Sure, where at? >

Adora: Definitely not on campus, the cafeteria is fucked. What about Modura?

The sub place? That sounds good, I’m in. >

Adora: Great, I’ll see you then, I really need to sleep now.

Same, goodnight. >

Adora: Night Cat, and thanks again for everything tonight.

Catra smiled a little to herself, set her phone aside and passed out.

* * *


	2. College Days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra and Adora share some classic college times.

Adora was tired, again. 

A common theme for her these days but it was for a good reason this time. Staying up late texting Catra had been worth it, and she was looking forward to talking to her more in person.

She stood at the crosswalk looking at her phone as she waited for the light to change. It was warm enough during the day that she didn’t need her jacket on so it was wrapped around her waist instead. She loved this time of year, the end of summer and the fall when she could wear her old letterman jacket and long pants without dying of heat.

“Hey Adora.”

She turned and found Catra walking up behind her, a slight smile tugging up one corner of her mouth revealing a single sharp fang. 

“Hey, how are ya?” Adora replied, sticking her phone in her pocket.

Catra shrugged. “Tired, but whatever.”

Adora chuckled. “Yeah me too.”

The light changed and they walked across the street together. The restaurant was just off campus and the walk there was short. They chatted as they got in line and the workers began putting their sandwiches together. Adora snuck ahead to the register while Catra was picking toppings for her sandwich, she leaned over the counter conspiratorially and whispered to the woman working there. “I’m covering her food too.”

The woman nodded in understanding and Adora paid for both. Adora stepped away with her sandwich and waited for Catra, looking around for a table. The place was a little busy but not too bad, certainly not as bad as the campus dining options.

“Hey what gives?” Catra asked her voice somewhere between bemused and angry.

“You saved me from getting beaten up and possibly raped Catra, paying for your sandwich is the least I can do.” Adora replied simply.

Catra’s expression changed from mild anger to embarrassment and she looked away. She opened her mouth a couple times as if to say something but didn’t the first few times. “Y-you didn’t have to.”

“Neither did you.” Adora smiled and nodded towards the dining room. “Come on there’s a table over there.”

Catra followed her over silently and they sat across from each other at a two person table by the window. 

“So how is Krampt? I’ve been in there a few times but I spent my first two years in Maddison.” Adora asked as she began unwrapping her sandwich.

Catra shrugged. “It’s alright I guess, better than the dorm I lived in at Helmand though that’s not saying much.” Catra shook her head. “The only thing I’m really worried about is that they might be putting two students in each room.”

“There are still students sleeping in the gym right now for lack of space.” Adora added. “We’ve had to practice outside because of it.”

Catra nodded. “Yeah, it’s rough but I really don’t want a roommate, and I especially don’t want a roommate from Helmand.”

The miserable look on Catra’s face made Adora wince internally, there were clearly a lot of bad memories from Helmand. Adora quietly wondered if the reputation the school held was worse than what she had thought.

“Hopefully it doesn’t come to that.” Adora offered without much confidence.

Catra groaned but shook off her melancholy. “Whatever I’ll deal with it, always have.” She brushed it off but Adora was pretty sure it was troubling her more than she let on. “What about you? Shouldn’t you be off with a bunch of friends right now? You’re one of the popular kids here.”

Adora shrugged. “Sure there are people I could go have lunch with on campus I guess, but…” She felt like a lot of those friendships were fairly shallow. It had been more of the same from high school, she was ‘popular’. That had mattered , for some reason, when she was younger, but now? Every day she spent in a group of people she hardly knew but claimed to be friends with seemed less fulfilling than the last. She couldn’t just say that though, her relationship with Catra was different, she felt it stronger than with many of her supposed ‘friends’. She didn't want to dump her baggage on her and risk ruining it. “I wanted to hang out with you.”

Catra’s eyes scanned over her but she controlled her features this time and Adora couldn’t tell what the magikat thought of her half-truth but she didn’t challenge her about it.

“I don’t have any other friends here and not many more back home, I’m no socialite but…” Catra didn’t finish the thought, preferring not to voice her loneliness.

“Hey we’re perfect for each other then eh?” Adora replied with a slight smile.

Catra smiled back. “Look if you want me to suck your dick again all you had to do was ask.”

Adora choked on her drink spluttering as Catra roared with laughter.

* * *

“So I hear you’re hanging out with some new girl for lunch.” 

Adora slid her gaze from her gauntlet to Glimmer. She tugged the strap tight and reached for the other glove. “Yeah, we met a few days ago.”

“No one has seen you at our usual table for lunch since then!” Glimmer continued. This despite the fact that Glimmer wasn’t at the table during the time Adora would be there either.

Adora continued putting on her armor. “Campus dining is totally fucked, we’ve been going off campus to avoid the crowds.”

“You don’t ask anyone else to go with you?” Glimmer asked with what seemed like genuine confusion. Glimmer was a social person, she loved people and quickly became bored if there were any less than a dozen friends within line of sight. She seemed immune to the problem Adora had with most.

“It’s not avoiding the crowds if I bring one with me, Glim.” Adora favored her with a cheeky smile before donning her mask obscuring her face behind the dark mesh.

“You’d rather hang out with her than your other friends?” She accused.

Adora frowned at her from behind her mask. “It’s not a contest Glim, I like her, we hang out.”

_She sucks my dick, I eat her out._ Adora added to herself. None of her other friends would do that. Most ranged somewhere between thinking she was a freak but hanging out with her because she was popular. Or they wanted to sleep with her just to say they had.

Catra seemed to enjoy giving her head, or at the very least it was an acceptable trade for the favor she got in return. She didn’t make a big deal out of it and they were friends. Adora liked that about her, that they could have some fun and it didn’t have to be a badge of status or some kind of twisted trophy, it was just fun.

Adora took up her longsword and left the locker room, she wanted to hit something. Her first couple opponents came to regret their placement against her.

* * *

Catra walked with Adora towards the edge of campus, past the old stadium and the diamond where they had first met. They were headed into a part of the valley that was forested, beyond the apartments where Adora lived. Nothing was built out this way due to the thick forest around the small river that had formed the valley over the centuries and so it was a nice piece of nature only a stone's throw from campus. Dozens of small glades and clearings dotted the otherwise impenetrable forest creating the perfect place for college students to find small secluded areas to relax. Everyone had their own hidden glade and Adora it seemed was no different.

“You guys hang out here on the weekends?” Catra asked. It was Friday finally which meant most classes were done for the week, all of Catra’s were and Adora had only an early morning class.

“Yeah, there’s a nice spot by the river where we hang out. Not many people know about it so we get some separation from the crowds.” Adora explained as they walked into the woods.

Catra nodded. “Sounds pretty nice.” Catra felt a little warmth in her chest that Adora liked her enough to share their private hangout with her. She wasn’t sure how she felt about meeting some of Adora’s friends, she liked Adora, but that was unusual. She did not like most people.

“Here I owe you one.” Adora held out a cigarette case holding half a dozen neat white cigarettes.

Catra frowned at her. “It’s not a debt.” She said, though she did take one. Adora just gave her a half smile and shrugged. 

She rolled the cigarette between her thumb and forefinger examining it. “Are these homemade?”

“Kinda.” Adora replied cupping her hand around the lighter as she lit hers flicking the lighter closed with a click. Catra saw the brief mental anguish as she looked at the closed lighter and Catra’s unlit cigarette but she shrugged it off quickly and leaned over to let Catra light off her ember instead of reigniting the zippo. “My aunt and uncle grow some tobacco on their farm just outside of town, I almost never smoke anything else.”

Catra hummed in response, taking a deep drag once it was lit. “I can see why, this is good.”

Adora smiled, sticking the case back in her bag. “I’m starting to run low, I’ll have to go visit them soon.”

“Get some for me.” Catra replied, half serious. 

Adora snicked. “Only if you pay me back in blow-”

“Deal.” Catra cut her off before she could finish. 

Adora grinned at her sidelong and Catra smirked back.

The forest scrub became thicker as they neared the river and soon tall brambles narrowed their world down around them to a close thorn lined path. Adora deftly maneuvered through the undergrowth and Catra saw several landmarks pass by as they cut a clear but circuitous route through the thorns. A tree with a patch of bark smoothed from hands touching it as they passed, a boulder with a high-vis bicycle reflector stuck on it, an old rag tied around a tree branch.

A huge dead tree hung half fallen against another tree creating a natural archway through the last of the thicket and out into a clearing along the riverside. It was a pretty little spot, a clear grassy area fifty yards across along the riverside. Though here the river was dwindled down to a stream, an offshoot of the larger river perhaps. A pile of boulders bounded the far end of the clearing and the signs of people making themselves at home here were apparent, a collection of garden tools for keeping the clearing useable, a few old fishing rods, a beat up cooler, a collection of empty bottles, the black stain of a campfire, rickety targets splintered and gray. It reeked of the kind of college times that only existed in movies. Catra was instantly nostalgic for memories she had never had.

There were a handful of people sitting on and around the boulders at the far end who waved as they stepped into the clearing. A short thick girl with pink hair, a slim dark skinned boy, a tall blond girl in a dress, a pale girl with red-brown hair and freckles, and a ratfolk beastman.

They walked over together.

“Adora! You need to quit that!” The pink haired girl called with the strain of a long standing argument.

“Stop what?” Catra asked quietly enough not to be heard by more than Adora.

“Smoking.” She replied with a cocky grin.

“You’ll never stop me now I’ve got a partner in crime.” Adora replied defiantly puffing out her chest.

The pink haired girl pouted, Catra got the impression this was a long running half-serious gag between the two.

“Who is this partner of yours?” The dark skinned boy asked.

“Catra.” She replied.

“That’s Bow.” Adora said motioning to the boy. “Glimmer.” The pink haired girl stuck her tongue out, Adora made a face back at her. “Perfuma, our _other_ smoker.” Perfuma gave her a painfully sweet smile. “Tweek.” She motioned to the beastman who was sat fishing. He favoured her with a buck toothed grin and a slight nod. “And Lyndis.” She finished nodding to the freckled girl.

Lyndis looked up from the sketchbook in her hands to nod in greeting before returning to her drawing.

It seemed like only Bow and Glimmer were immediately interested in their arrival; the others went back to whatever they had been doing before they arrived. Glimmer seemed slightly agitated, Bow seemed pleased though she couldn’t say why.

He spoke up before Glimmer could say anything and it looked like she was about to.

“What’s your poison Catra?” He asked, reaching down into the beat up cooler.

Catra smiled. “I brought my own actually.”

She reached into her bag and pulled out a six-pack of beer, Bow raised an eyebrow curiously.

“What kind?” He asked.

She pulled one of the cans off the plastic and tossed it to him. 

“Magna the red.” He read out loud from the can.

“The brewery is in my hometown and I just found out you can get it here too.” Adora looked curiously at the remaining cans and Catra handed her one.

“A red ale?” Adora asked. “I’ve never had one of those…”

“You hate beer.” Glimmer said.

Adora nodded. “Yeah I usually do.” She flicked the butt of her cigarette into the firepit and popped the tab anyway. 

“Hmm that’s actually pretty good.” She said after taking a tentative sip from the can.

Catra grinned and opened one for herself. “Cheers.”

They bumped their cans together.

* * *

Glimmer glared at the two of them. Catra and Adora were standing in the shallow water of the river sipping on their beers and laughing.

“What’s up Glim?” Bow asked from beside her.

“Don’t you think it’s weird that they’re so buddy buddy so quickly?” Glimmer asked.

Bow shrugged. “No?” 

He hadn’t cared for the red ale but Tweek had been happy to take the can off of him.

“And she’s a Helmand girl!” Glimmer added as though she were accusing her of being involved in a particularly scandalous tryst.

“Oh yeah, Adora said she transferred here a few months ago.” Bow looked sidelong at Glimmer who was all but grinding her teeth at the two of them. “Glim are you jealous?”

“What?” She exclaimed in half shock, half outrage. “Why would I be jealous of _her?_ ”

“Because, normally you are the one who’s buddy buddy with Adora.” Bow said more teasing than anything else.

Glimmer looked away, a petulant pout on her face.

Bow smiled to himself, Glimmer was a good person but she had latched onto Adora in a way that was harmful to them both. Glimmer needed to ease up and Adora needed to make some close friends of her own. He didn’t know what it was about Catra that had caught Adora’s attention, but he thought this would be a good thing for both of them.

* * *

Catra stood in the knee deep water of the stream across from Adora, the water was cool but not uncomfortably so. The sun was up overhead and the water felt nice though now that Fall was coming it would grow cold when the sun went down. She wiggled her toes in the soft silty bottom of the stream and took a sip of her beer. Adora smiled at her and she grinned back.

Adora tipped the can back finishing her beer and tossed the empty can ashore. “That was good, I’ve never had a beer that I liked.”

Catra shrugged. “I don’t like most other beers either.” She looked down into the dark opening of her can and knocked back the last of her drink before tossing her can ashore as well. “But a good darker beer is good for me.”

“I agree completely.” Tweek said from his perch on the rock upstream from them. He took a long swig from the can he had taken from Bow, having to angle his head much farther back to accomplish this due to the shape of his long rodent head.

“Have you caught anything yet?” Adora called up to him.

“A couple nice ones so far, I’m hoping you two will scare them back upstream and I’ll get another chance at them.” He replied with a grin.

“Do you eat the fish he catches?” Catra asked Adora with the creeping edge of hope in her voice.

Adora nodded. “Yeah, if he catches anything.” She said the later part louder and Tweek replied by giving her the finger.

“He’s a pretty good campfire chef, just don’t let him near a real kitchen.” Adora continued.

Tweeks’ ears twitched but he didn’t say anything proving the statement had more truth than tease.

“Hmm I look forward to it, it’s been a while since I had any good fish.” Catra said. “Last time was probably when I was home for christmas.” Catra’s face softened as she remembered the last time she was home with her family and a wave of homesickness washed over her.

Adora bumped her, pulling her out of her memories. “Hey, tell me about it.”

The simple caring smile Adora had got to her and instead of pushing it off like she normally would, she relented. She told Adora about last Christmas when she was home with her family, her younger twin sisters, her single mother, and her aunts and uncles all gathering in their little basement. The family famous fish pie her mother made,the fact you could always tell Aunt Susan's presents from the others because she used ribbons. She had never really casually talked about her family like this to anyone. Adora listened, occasionally making a comment about her own family, but mostly she just let Catra talk. Surprisingly it made the homesickness she had felt fade away. 

By the time she was done the day was beginning to wane. The sky was painted in shades of orange and red slowly deepening and darkening as the sun edged over the valley sides. They were still standing in the river and that was starting to become unpleasant. The fire had been started and they got out of the river and sat by the fire letting it’s warmth dry their feet. Tweek was removing the scales from the fish and preparing them for cooking. She had another beer while the fish cooked. Lyndis turned out to be a violinist and played both classic and fiddle with Tweek or Perfuma singing occasionally. 

_Are you going to Scarborough fair?_

_Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme_

_Remember me to one who lives there_

_She once was a true love of mine_

Perfuma sang while Lyndis played slow sweet notes on her violin. It wasn’t the kind of music Catra usually listened to but she found herself swaying with the gentle notes all the same. The surroundings and atmosphere were perfect for this and she let herself be swept up in the slow sad music.

When Perfuma’s voice had trailed off on the final note Lyndis looked to Tweek as he adjusted the cooking fish and smiled at her. She placed her bow back on the strings and the music that sprang forth was very different than the last, a jaunty fiddling that immediately made Catra think of sea shanties. Tweek raised his voice and began to sing while he worked.

_From France we get the Brandy_

_From Martinique the rum_

_Sweet red Cabernet_

_From Italy does come_

_But the fairest of ‘em all me boys_

_The one to beat the day_

_Is made from apples_

_Up the mighty Saguenay_

It was a happier song and Tweek’s voice complemented the song quite well, while his speaking voice was high and a little raspy his singing was low and sonorous. They all began to hum along adding an even base to the song and Bow added in beating on the cooler like a box drum.

When that song too faded away Lyndis began casting her eyes around looking for someone else to take up the tune. Her eyes fell on Adora who blushed slightly and demurred, they landed on Catra next and almost flitted away immediately after, not wanting to pressure the newcomer. Catra caught the eye of the violinist and before she could think better of it she took in a deep breath and raised her voice…

_I see a red door and I want it painted black_

_No colors anymore, I want them to turn black_

_I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes_

_I have to turn my head until my darkness goes_

It took Lyndis only a moment to pick up on the tune, a smile splitting her face as she joined in with her violin as Catra sang. Catra wasn’t much of a singer, but she had never held back from singing in the shower, nor had anyone ever asked her to stop. She made it through the song without too much difficulty and got a few appreciative claps when she was finished. She had to look away as she tried to brush it off lest her blush ruin her image.

Tweek announced the fish was done soon after and the bounty was divided up. 

It was the best thing Catra had eaten all week.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Catra walked with Adora as they headed back for the night, the others having dispersed for their own homes. She was comfortably warm with alcohol and riding high on the night’s good times.

“Thanks for inviting me along tonight, I uh… I haven’t had a good time like that in a while.” Catra felt her face get a little warmer but it was probably just the booze.

Adora chuckled, her face was also a little red from the alcohol. “You seemed like you needed to blow off some steam. I’m glad you had a good time.” 

The simple smile Adora gave her was warm and genuine and it filled her chest with a fuzzy cotton feeling. 

Man having friends could be pretty nice once in a while, that was a fairly novel concept to her.

They got to the block where Adora’s apartment was and stopped at the corner under the harsh glow of the streetlamp. Catra looked off towards the dorm a few blocks further on and sighed. 

“You can sleep on the couch if you don’t want to walk all the way back to the dorms.” Adora offered after noticing Catra’s gaze. 

Catra almost turned her down on instinct, but she stopped. Adora was inviting her into her apartment, not only would this save her the lonely trudge back to her cramped dorm room, they could also have some fun together.

Catra raised a suggestive eyebrow.

Adora rolled her eyes. “Can’t I just be nice without you thinking I need a sexual favor in return?”

Catra laughed. “That’s not what I was implying.” 

Adora began leading her towards the apartment building.

“I was suggesting that we perform sexual acts as a completely unrelated matter.” Catra continued with a grin.

“You’re insatiable.” Adora replied flatly.

“Is that a no?” Catra asked a teasing lilt to her voice.

Adora rolled her eyes, but smiled. “No.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gunna try to keep up this once a week posting.
> 
> Also the songs are: Scarborough Fair (I like the Dan Avidan version), Joli Rouge by the Dreadnaughts, and Paint It Black.


	3. Rained In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra and Adora just chilling, plans for the future.

Catra sat in the dappled shade of an oak and watched Adora as she trained. A log was buried in the ground giving her an upright target to strike, battered and splintered the target had seen a lot of hard use. Adora flowed through a series of blows each hit eliciting a sharp resounding crack of wood on wood.

Adora’s favoured weapon was a two-handed greatsword, which didn’t surprise Catra at all considering Adora’s physique and personality. There were a handful of other wooden training weapons nearby that Adora occasionally used and the archery targets Bow used. Catra had occasionally seen Adora coerce some of the others into picking up the weapons and facing her, but never very seriously.

“I’m not boring you, am I?” Adora asked.

Catra looked at her leaning on her sword casually in a black sports bra and sweating just enough to make her exposed arms and abs shine in the afternoon sun. Catra watched as a drop slowly slid down her neck and onto her collar bone before disappearing beneath her bra. With an effort she managed to look at Adora’s face long enough to cock an eyebrow at her like she was an idiot.

Adora rolled her eyes. 

She was partly serious though, she would willingly watch Adora sweat all day and was immensely glad her class had been canceled so she could come here and do just that. Adora was normally here on her own between classes and Catra knew that she usually used that time to train. She had been curious to find out what that entailed partly to see Adora sweat, and partly because she was undeniably interested in HEMA ever since Adora had started telling her about it. Adora’s nerdy glee was infectious, Catra wasn’t too upset about it though.

She stood and picked up a sword and shield across from Adora. “Alright, teach me your nerd fu.”

Adora raised an eyebrow but smiled slightly and strode over to her choosing to ignore the jab. “Hold it like this, widen your stance.”

Catra was able to pick up the basics relatively quickly, it was not the first time she had learned a martial art and the structure felt familiar even if nothing else was. They ran through a handful of basics until Catra began to pick it up.

Her prior experience helped, good instincts worked even with the unfamiliar weapons and moves. It wasn't long before she could manage enough for some basic sparring, though Adora was clearly teaching not trying.

After a while they sat down in the shade of the trees at the edge of the clearing and took a break. Catra was eager for fall to arrive fully and drive away the last of the summer heat. Sweat didn't suit her as well as Adora.

“So you have like a real sword too?” She asked. The wooden training weapons they had were more or less the correct dimensions and had metal inserts to match the weight. After swinging them around for an hour Catra’s arms were hurting. Though she wasn’t about to admit that.

“For HEMA? No, the swords we use are tournament weapons. Very bendy and with a ball on the tip to prevent you from jabbing people.” She paused for a moment. “But I do also have a real greatsword yeah, just for show though.” Adora grinned sheepishly. “I wear it with my armor for the Renaissance festival.”

_ Of course you do you huge nerd.  _ Catra thought to herself. “I’ve never been to the Ren Faire.”

“Really?” Adora asked with a tone that implied she may as well have admitted to murder.

“It’s a long drive from here to Selene.” She replied reasonably.

Adora’s eyes lit up and grabbed her by the shoulders. “We have to go!”

Her gut instinct was to say no. That was always her gut instinct for social events, but it was Adora asking and that changed things. Instead, her off the cuff reaction was to make a joke and then say yes, but the genuine excitement in Adora’s eyes stunned her. It was such a pure thing, her sharing something she loved unabashedly.

“Okay sure.” She said quietly.

Adora leapt back a huge smile on her face. “Yes! It’s always so hard to convince Glimmer to go.”

“Isn’t it still like, months away?” Catra wasn’t exactly sure when it happened, she had never been interested enough in the festival to make the six hour drive from Selene to Midland, but she did vaguely have the event connected to the Fall season in her mind.

“September.” Adora confirmed nodding. “I always look forward to it when school starts.”

“You’re a huge nerd, you know that right?” 

Adora placed a hand on her chest and bowed her head slightly. "I am in fact aware yes." She straightened and did a classic strongman pose flexing her powerful arms. "Especially the huge part." 

She should have had a snarky comeback for that, it certainly deserved one, but she couldn't make her mouth form the words. Damnit Adora’s stupid Amazon body was making her miss her sass quotas.

* * *

“It’s really raining cats and dogs out there.”

Catra looked sidelong at Adora with a slight frown.

“Sorry.” Adora replied with a sheepish smile.

It  _ was  _ raining quite hard outside though, lightning split the sky as they watched from the window and was quickly followed by a tremendous clap of thunder that made Catra’s ears flatten back on her head.

“Hey, how about instead of going back out there.” Adora nodded out the rain streaked window. “We break out the amaretto and you sleep on the couch?”

Catra’s mouth curled into a wry grin. “Twist my arm.”

Adora smiled and stepped back away from the window and into the small kitchenette.

She looked back out the window into the rain drenched night. Lightning cracked again bathing everything in blinding brilliance for a fraction of a second. Despite what most people would initially think Catra liked the rain. She hated being wet, but loved watching it come down.

“I hope the power doesn’t go out.” She said turning back into the house and walking over to the couch.

She pulled the blanket and pillows out from underneath it where they were stashed for when she spent the night there. This was the fourth or fifth time she had stayed at Adora’s apartment since that first night after the bonfire. They had studied together a few times, she had stayed over for each subsequent bonfire and, once when Krampt’s air conditioning was broken and the building had been unbearably hot. A few of her things had made their way here over time, a spare toothbrush, blankets and pillows, a change of clothes, a phone charger, a few other odds and ends.

She felt a little bad about how often she was staying here, but Adora was adamant that it was no problem at all, even that she enjoyed it. Catra believed her, she was pretty good at reading people and Adora seemed genuine. She also refused to let her pay her back for it with blowjobs either (or anything else for that matter). It was kind of irritating because Catra had to convince her every time that it wasn’t to repay her; she just wanted Adora to eat her out afterwards. Which was true, Adora was amazing with her mouth. She didn’t mind giving Adora head either, it was kind of fun to play with her.  _ I guess dicks can be fun if they’re attached to a hot girl.  _ She thought to herself smiling at her own inner monologue. She looked over at Adora now, pouring drinks for them, with an appraising stare. Adora caught her gaze and immediately read the look on her face.   
  
“Catra you don’t have to-” Adora started but Catra interrupted her.

“You know that’s not why I want to!” She said rolling her eyes.

Adora walked over and handed her a glass of amaretto and coke, a favorite of Adora’s. Catra took it and sipped on it, it was sweet and smooth and comfortable without being too alcoholic.

Adora half smirked at her. “Prove it then.”

Catra gaped at her. “What do you mean ‘prove it’?”

“I’ll eat you out, that’s what you want right?” Adora asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes.” Catra agreed wondering where this was going.

Adora shrugged. “That’s it then, I’ll eat you out and you don’t have to return anything. Proving you aren’t just trying to pay me back for staying the night.” Adora finished with a self-satisfied smile.

Catra stared at her, bewildered, for a few seconds before shaking herself. “Fine whatever, if that will make you happy.”

"It will." Adora nodded smiling smugly.

They decided to watch a movie eventually, sitting on the floor against the couch with a blanket wrapped around both of them. Something bad that they could both make fun of while they watched and drank, nothing heavy. Her glass dangled from her fingers loosely, warm under the blanket and smiling at the shitty acting. Adora snorted and leaned against her shoulder unable to make herself watch the screen. She was comfortable, just her and Adora, shit talking a bad movie and a little alcohol, it felt like home. For the first time in a long time she was happy, not just begrudgingly content, but really actually happy.

The power went out with a crack halfway through, bringing the room into sudden and absolute darkness save for the flash of lightning coming through the blinds. They sat there in the dark with everything quiet around them save for the drumming of rain against the window for a few long moments. Catra was content to sit there for now, warm and close with Adora and it seemed Adora was too.

Their phones buzzed in unison and Adora reached forward grabbing hers.

“Classes are canceled tomorrow.” She said looking at her phone.

Catra got the same massage so she just turned on the screen light and reached for the bottle of amaretto which had migrated from the kitchen to the floor in front of them at some point during the movie along with a few cans of Coke.

“One more then?” She asked, cocking an eyebrow and smiling.

Adora slid her glass over and Catra filled them both. Not that one more would hurt them, the half shot of amaretto in each glass was not particularly strong and even after a few Catra was still only a little buzzed. They sat there under the blanket together on the floor in front of the couch and drank in the harsh light of Catra’s phone. Quiet save for the drumming of rain and crash of thunder.

Adora nudged her shoulder. “Alright take your pants off.”

“Very classy Adora, truly chivalry isn’t dead.” Catra quipped dryly.

Adora shoved her again a stupid smile on her face. Catra wiggled out of her shorts without any further complaint and Adora took the rest on herself. Pushing her over and pulling her underwear down and off her legs before getting between them herself.

Catra sighed as Adora’s warm breath poured over her, strong arms wrapping around her thighs. Catra leaned back slowly a guttural purr just barely held back as Adora settled into her. By this point Adora knew how to work her over, she could unravel her in moments if she wanted to. She had done it in a bathroom stall last week driving her to and over the edge in minutes. She didn’t push her like that now, she took her time and lavished her attention on Catra. Her mouth and hands slowly kneading Catra’s body, relaxing the tense muscles of her core until it was more Adora holding her up than her own body. It was almost torture,  _ almost  _ too slow, but not quite. It was enough to build her up slowly, gently, until she mewled with need. Adora gave her the release she wanted and Catra was only barely able to stop herself from digging her claws into Adora’s head as she pulled her deep into her core. Fingers gripping into her hair and her back arching up off the ground as warm electricity arced through her.

It took a few moments to catch her breath before she looked down at Adora. “There, do you believe me now?”

Adora grinned up at her from between her legs, one cheek resting against her thigh and a sly smile on her face. 

“No, I need more convincing.” 

Before Catra could do more than cock an eyebrow at her Adora had dived back down between her legs. She couldn't stop the purr this time and she could feel Adora's lips smiling against her.

* * *

Catra awoke that morning on the floor, she didn’t remember falling asleep. It was apparently at some point after her third orgasm. At least that was all she remembered with clarity. She was still there on her back and Adora was still there between her legs, her head resting on her stomach just under her breasts with her arms wrapped around her waist. One of Catra’s legs was hooked around Adora’s thigh the other sprawled out on the floor. The blanket was tangled around both of them haphazardly. Catra was not wearing any pants of course, she could in fact see her panties hanging off the arm of the couch where Adora had thrown them last night.

_ Good thing we don’t have class today. _

She thought looking back at the light pouring in through the window.

_ Good thing we’re on the third floor too. _

She lifted herself up to her elbows and nudged Adora gently. She awoke and looked around confused for a moment eye level with Catra's breasts.

“Oh we fell asleep.” She said lamely, blinking blearily and then blushing when she realized their position.

Catra just looked down at her with a slightly bemused smile on her face until , blushing even darker, Adora removed herself from between her legs. Catra got up and stretched languidly. Sleeping like that had not been the most comfortable thing but she wasn’t all that upset about it.

When she opened her eyes again Adora was staring at her openly, not something she normally did.

“You want me to do it again?” She said with a wry grin.

Adora blinked and reddened again before looking away. “You can use the shower if you want.” She offered as a lame deflection.

Catra smiled a little to herself and made a conscious effort to bend over while she retrieved the change of clothes she had here. She could feel Adora’s eyes on her uncovered ass. She looked away again before she stood and turned around, but Catra could see the furious red of her cheeks as she walked past towards the bathroom.

* * *

Catra pushed her wet hair back over her head and tilted her face up to the water. 

_ So Adora is attracted to me. _

She had always kind of known that, she doubted they would have fooled around together if she wasn’t at least in some part attracted to her. This was different though, Adora had clearly been staring at her in a rather obvious show of attraction, which she hadn't done before, not like that.

She was attracted to Adora of course, how could she not be? Adora was practically an Amazonian sex goddess. She hadn’t quite expected the return though, not like this at least. 

There was a softness to it as well, not just lust. 

_ I wonder if she’d go on a date with me? _

Catra laughed to herself imagining Adora asking her out on a date, nervous and stiff despite their regular 'escapades'.

_ What a dork. _

_ I’d say yes though. _

That thought cought up to her after a few seconds and made her stop. 

She would say yes. 

Well of course she would, who wouldn’t want to date Adora? Adora was  _ gorgeous,  _ intelligent, strong, caring…

_ Fuck.  _

Catra bumped her forehead against the cool tile of the shower.

_ Crushing on her was not part of the plan Catra.  _

Running into Adora had been the best thing that had happened to her since getting to Midland. She was everything Catra had desperately needed, a good friend, an avenue to really good college times, more friends, and even a way to blow off steam and manage her cravings. She was just so perfectly comfortable to be around, so uncomplicated and genuine. She didn’t have to pretend to be someone else around her, didn’t have to put on any masks to appease, she could just be Catra. The only other place she could be that was home, and she couldn’t just hop on a bus for eight hours whenever she needed to feel comfortable in her own skin.

_ Fuck.  _

_ I need to call Scorpia. _

* * *

“Hey Wildcat what’s up?” 

Scorpia’s happy voice practically bubbled out of the phone and Catra held the device slightly away from her ear for fear of getting any on her.

“Hey Scorpia, I’m good, how are you?” Catra asked as she walked back from Adora’s apartment back to her own dorm room.

“Come on Wildcat we both know you didn’t call to shoot the breeze, what’s up?”

Catra grimaced, Scorpia had seen right through her without even being here. Catra opened her mouth to retort but Scorpia spoke up as soon as she heard her open her mouth.

“If it wasn’t important you woulda just texted me.”

Catra grimaced deeper, damn Scorpia for being so good at this. Why couldn’t she be as clueless about other people's relationships as she was about her own?

“I…” She started and then stopped, took a deep breath and started again. “I might be falling for my friend.”

“The buff nerdy one that you’ve been sleeping with?” Catra groaned internally but that was how she had described Adora.

“We aren’t sleeping together!” Her voice pitched up an octave and she clamped her mouth shut. She supposed after last night that wasn’t technically true either, but that wasn’t the point.

“Sure thing Wildcat.” She could hear the smile in her voice and wished the brute were here so she could pounce on her. “What’s the problem then? She already likes you obviously, ask her out.”

“It’s not that simple, we’re…” Catra trailed off, why was it so easy to just be whatever they were with Adora but so hard to explain it to anyone else.

“Friends and you don’t want to risk losing that if she doesn’t want to be more than friends?” Scorpia offered.

Catra stared silent daggers at her phone hoping it would obey and transmit her distaste to Scorpia without having to put it into words.

“Come on Wildcat I’ve read this fanfic before! Just ask her out, she’s not gonna drop you if she doesn’t want to go further, and if I were a betting woman I would put money on her saying yes.”

Catra sighed her anger draining away, it was no use against Scorpia; she was far too cheerful to be affected by it and knew Catra too well. 

“I-I’m scared Scorp, she means a lot to me and risking the kind of… stability she gives me is a lot.”

“I know, it’s clear to me how much she means to ya.” She laughed. “You’ve been calling me and Trapta a lot less since you started hanging out with her, our best friend squad isn’t as necessary to recharge the ol’ batteries ha!”

Catra felt a pang of guilt curl in her gut. She had been calling them less since she had met Adora and Scorpia was exactly right. Adora helped her keep her head on straight and decompress, she didn’t need hour long therapy calls with her only two friends from back home.

“Sorry, I don’t mean to ignore you guys.”

“Hey now don’t sweat it! I’m glad you don’t need to unwind as much, besides me and Trapta are moving out in two weeks so we’ll be able to get together in person soon enough!”

Was it that time already? She knew Entrapta was coming out to attend class out here at Midland starting in the winter and that Scorpia was going to be her roommate. Scorpia had already graduated, she went out of state for university two years before Catra had gone to Helmand and had only come back a few months ago.

"That's pretty early isn't it? Winter semester is still a ways off."

"Yeah but I start work before then!" Scorpia's excitement bubbled through the phone.

Scorpia had gone to school for veterinary medicine and had been planning to work in Midland if she could.

"Oh you found something? That’s great." If anyone deserves something good it was Scorpia, she hoped this worked out for her. Not just because it meant her only two friends from her hometown would be nearby either.

"Yep, so we'll be packing up and getting ready to move soon. Entrapta and I have been looking at apartments near the campus.”

“It’ll be good to see you guys again.”

She had friends to introduce them to now, she wondered if she could bring them to bonfires on the weekend? She’d have to ask the others.

“I’m so excited! We’re getting the band back together!”

“We’ve never been in a band, and I am not joining one either.” Catra deadpanned.

“Aw but you sing so well!” Catra blushed at the recent memory that elicited.

Maybe she wouldn’t introduce them.

* * *

Bow whistled as he walked through the trees into their little clearing and nearly jumped out of his skin when a loud crack startled him. It was Adora hitting her practice target, she wasn’t normally here during this time and he had expected to have the place to himself for his archery practice.

“Oh hey Adora, what are you doing here I thought you had…” He stopped for a second to think. “Some scholastic club meeting right?”

Adora eased back from the target resting the sword on her shoulder. She pulled a rag off her belt and wiped sweat from her forehead with it. “Yeah I used to but uh Catra convinced me to prune down my extracurriculars.”

Bow raised an eyebrow. That was certainly a good thing for Adora, she had way too much on her plate and didn’t leave nearly enough time for herself. He had been gently trying to convince her to do much the same for a while now without much success.

“Yeah, she made me think about it you know? If I would rather be here working out or at whatever club I would normally be at. Honestly there were more than a few I’d rather be here instead.” She shrugged. “I’m not quitting all my stuff obviously there is still HEMA, writing club, and a few others… but I am cutting back a bit, I was stressing myself out too much and she helped me realize that.”

Bow smiled. “I’m sure she didn’t word it like that though.”

Adora grinned broadly a knowing glint to her eyes. “No she did not.”

That was the thing with them. Bow prided himself on knowing how to read people and help them with things that might not be very healthy. Adora’s overbusy schedule for instance, but he had never quite been able to say it right for her. Couldn’t convince her to do what she probably should have and relax her schedule. Catra had though, she knew how to get Adora to listen, to rethink her choices. She hadn’t forced it on her, she had just been able to say the right things to get Adora to see the problem and make a change. He was a little envious of Catra for that, but he was just happy Adora was trimming her schedule down to something more healthy for her.

Catra had been a good thing for Adora in many ways, now he just needed to help Glimmer get over her jealousy and things would be smooth sailing.

* * *

  
  


“Hey Bow.” Catra said around the cigarette she was trying to light.

Bow stopped and laughed slightly. “Damn Catra you saw me coming without even looking?”

Her ears flicked and she turned towards him, the unlit cigarette still in her mouth. “You aren’t very familiar with cats are you?”

“But, how did you know it was me then?” He asked looking at her feline ears.

“I could hear your quiver rattling.” She replied.

Bow glanced over his shoulder at the quiver on his back with his bow and training arrows nodding slowly. Bow caught up to her and they continued walking towards the clearing in the forest. 

“Where’s Adora?” Bow asked.

“Picking up some of her HEMA gear from the store, repairs I think.” She replied. “You don’t have a light do you?”

Bow dug around in his pocket for a moment before producing a pack of matches. “For the campfire.” He said heading off why he was carrying them. 

Catra nodded, taking the matches and lighting her cigarette and taking a long if slightly shaky drag. “Thanks, she’ll be here soon.”

“You ok?” Bow asked, eyeing the Magikat sidelong as they walked through the forest. He didn’t know Catra  _ that  _ well, they had only met a little while ago, but he was pretty good at reading people. A natural talent that endeared him to some, and estranged him to others. He also knew Catra was fairly good at hiding her emotions, so if he could tell she was rattled it must be pretty bad.

Catra looked at him from the corner of her eye, took another deep drag on her cigarette and breathed out. “They’re gunna force a roommate on me.” She said dejectedly.

“In Krampt?” He asked incredulously.

“Yeah, it’s gunna be tight and it’s gunna be someone from Helmand.” She replied grimmly, her face falling.

“That’s no good?” He asked.

“Not a lot of good memories from Helmand and I know the kind of people that went there. I don’t want a roommate at all, let alone someone from Hel.” She explained using the school's uncharitable moniker.

“Is it really that bad?” He asked, a little disbelieving. “I don’t mean to doubt you I genuinely don’t know.”

“I’d give it 60/40 that my roommate is an addict.” She replied evenly. “And not to something as mundane as weed, like dear Perfuma, and even if they aren’t they probably have some trashy boyfriend or a serious taste for cheap vodka, maybe they’re just a klepto.” She shrugged. 

“I had always heard but I didn’t know it was  _ that  _ bad.” Bow replied softly. “That must have been really rough on you.”

Catra averted her eyes. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

Bow held up his hands. “Far be it for me to press, let’s focus on tonight, you gunna serenade us again?”

Catra kept her eyes averted but Bow caught the tinge of a blush on her cheeks and her ears lay flat against her head. “Can’t believe I did that.” She mumbled under her breath.

Bow laughed. “Why? you did great!”

Her blush darkened a shade and she puffed angrily on her cigarette. 

Bow chuckled and let the topic drop, he pulled out his phone to arrange a pick-me-up.

* * *

Adora walked into the clearing and held up a six pack of familiar looking cans. “I brought presents!” She yelled across the clearing.

Bow, Catra, and Lyn all looked up at her shout. Adora pressed one of the gently condensating cans into Catra’s hand as she approached with a smile.

“What’s this for?” Catra asked, cocking an eyebrow.

“I heard you needed a little TLC.” Adora said with a wink as she stepped past to put the remaining cans in the cooler.

Catra looked to Bow who smiled warmly in response. Catra felt warmth bloom in her chest as it felt like a weight lifted off her, if only a little bit.

Adora returned and knocked her can against Catra’s. “Cheers.”

They both popped them open and took a drink.

“Roommate stuff?” Adora asked.

“I don’t want to think about it.” Catra confirmed shaking her head in disgust.

“Well that’s what we’re here for, to not think about our lives for a few hours.” She smiled and the corners of Catra’s mouth quirked upwards. Despite herself Adora was sure.

* * *

Adora sat with Bow on the rocks, Catra was downstream helping Tweek with some sort of fish trap or something. A project whose success she was keenly interested in. Important to Adora she was out of even her extended earshot at the far end of the clearing.

“This housing thing is really getting to her.” Adora said quietly.

Bow nodded. “So I gathered.” He frowned. “But what can we do about it?”

“I think…” Adora paused and bit her lip as she thought, knocked back the last of her beer, and tossed the can into their bucket of empties. “I think I’m going to ask her to move in with me.” She said her gaze slowly following the magikat as she worked in the shallow water.

Bow looked at her with a cocked eyebrow. “You’ve gotten that close with her already?”

Adora’s eyes flicked to him and he saw a flash of embarrassment there before she looked away, her cheeks turning pink. “Yeah, birds of a feather.”

Bow said nothing and continued to scrutinize her with a small inquisitive smile. He watched as her willpower crumbled under his assault, her cheeks getting redder and redder until she cracked.

“We aren’t dating.” She said hastily.

“So what  _ are  _ you doing?” He questioned, a victorious smile splitting his face.

Adora blushed even harder and couldn’t meet his eye. “Uh…”

His eyes widened. “You’re fuck bud-” Adora tackled him.

“We are not!” She whispered furiously at him, her hand over his mouth.

His eyes were full of smug victory and his eyebrows waggled at her, unrepentant.

Adora sat back letting Bow up before someone noticed and got curious. “We don’t…” She paused, unable to continue. “We uh… don’t go that far?” She tried.

Bow put his hand up by his mouth and moved it back and forth while pushing his cheek out with his tongue. Adora kicked him and he laughed despite the assault.

Adora did her best to hide her furiously blushing face. 

“I wouldn’t have pegged you as they type.” He said, still smiling as her discomfort.

“I’m not, she’s… She’s special.” She said softly, her eyes downstream fixed on the magikat. 

Bow shook his head unseen by the distracted fencer and rolled his eyes. He wasn’t going to touch that, they’d figure their shit out eventually. “Special huh?”

She turned back to him frowning. “Yeah, I don’t know what it is but we just get along, feels like I’ve known her for years and she doesn’t make a big deal out of… well you know.” She trailed off blushing.

“I get that, I’m happy for you if you think it’s a good idea ask her to move in with you, I’m sure she would appreciate it.” Bow said letting the teasing tone fall from his voice, as fun as it was to tease her he knew she wouldn’t have said anything if she didn’t want his advice. “If you’re that comfortable with her then ask her. She certainly seems upset about it, I’m sure it would mean a lot to her.”

Adora nodded slowly, her eyes never leaving Catra.

* * *

“No Mom I’m not going to make her pay rent, I don’t pay rent!”

…

“Yeah of course I’m sure, I wouldn’t offer if I wasn’t.”

…

“Yeah, we’ve gotten… pretty close.”

…

“I think, It’s really important to her, I can tell how much she’s dreading it.”

…

“Yeah the couch-”

**…**

“We can’t get an air mattress Mom, she’s a Magikat, she has claws!”

…

“Yes, thank you.”

…

“Yeah next time will be Labor day.”

…

“Yeah, I’ll ask if she wants to come, she might be doing stuff with her family though.”

…

“Love you too.”

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love hearing from yall about the story and I'm feeling good about it. That said this is going to be a busy week for me and I might not be able to have another chapter done for next week but I'll try!


	4. Biting and other kinks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adora found herself leaning against Catra. They were onto the last bottles of cider she had brought and she was pleasantly buzzing from it. Catra leaned back against her mutually supporting each other as they swayed to Lyn’s idle violin playing. 
> 
> It was perfect, she was warm and happy and just a little sluggish. It was fun to be here around the fire with her friends but she was quickly approaching the point at which she would rather be sequestered in the tent with Catra.

* * *

Adora was tired. 

This running theme in her days continued for her despite her best efforts, she blamed Catra. Her tiredness now added to by the fact that her mouth was sore and every time she rubbed her jaw Catra grinned at her with the biggest shit eating grin imaginable.

Bastard.

She ignored her and addressed her assembled team. 

“Everyone, this is Catra.” She addressed the small crowd of people that made up the school’s Historic European Martial Arts team. The group all looked to Catra wearing her borrowed gear from the team supplies. There weren’t any Magikats on the team but the club had a spare suit of gear for one. Something that was required by fairness/accessibility laws for college sports. Luckily it fit Catra, more or less.

“She’s been training with me for a while now and was finally able to attend practice today. She's interested to see what it is we do. So we're going to have a few rounds of sparring to show off and then we'll get her in the ring."

Normally Catra had class at this time so she hadn’t been able to come to practice. However her teacher had cancelled class today citing medical issues. Adora hoped she was okay of course but it was rather convenient for their purposes.

People paired off and donned their masks before they began to fight. The rattle and clatter of training weapons soon filled the air. An undercurrent of shouted taunts and muttered cursing rounding out the tumult.

It was warmer than Adora would have liked. The gym was still being used as temporary sleeping space for transfer students from Helmand while they sorted them out to dorms and apartments. So they were outside again. This meant they weren't training as hard as they could be, not wanting anyone to overheat in the thick padding. That irked Adora, there was a tournament coming up and she wanted them to be ready, but there was little she could do other than make sure everyone drank plenty of water.

Catra watched the various fights attentively, learning and gauging how much she had learned against what she saw. Adora thought she looked good in the padded armor, she wasn’t wearing the helmet for now but she had tried it on earlier. It had big stiff cones on top for her ears and Adora had nearly passed out laughing when Catra realized. The big padded gear was unflattering at the best of times but Catra managed to look… regal, as though she were a noble and wearing armor was second nature to her. Despite the awkward bulky pads she held herself well, like she belonged in it. Adora wondered what she would look like in something that fit her, or a real suit of armor for that matter.

"She's a natural, isn't she?" Reese asked from beside her pulling her out of her daydreaming.

Reese was her second in command handling much of the tactical side of the team while Adora managed the physical training. Adora was the best one on one fighter on the team and she knew how to inspire and train, but it was Reese that decided what each individual person should focus on, how best to use each person’s strengths in combat, and who to bring when they travelled for tournaments. 

Adora looked to her with a slight smile.

You wouldn't call Reese short, not because it wasn't true, not even because she could beat you to a pulp if you did. She could, but wouldn't. No you wouldn't call her short because it was wholly inadequate in describing her. She was not quite five feet tall but was so powerfully built that the only word you could really begin to use was  _ stout.  _

Broad shoulders, sheet white skin speckled with freckles and dark red/brown hair. She was solid and dependable and god help anyone who went against her axe in hand. Or without for that matter.

Adora shrugged. "She picked it up quickly."

“Training against you she would have to. Is she planning to join the team?” 

Adora frowned. “I don’t know, she usually has class during this time. It’s only by chance she could come today.”

Catra watched a pair finish a round and stepped up to challenge one of them. She pulled on the mesh mask and raised her weapon. Catra had tried most of the options available barring some more exotic choices but had gone back to the shortsword and shield. A common choice both for comfort and it’s utility in combat, but Catra fought differently than any sword and board she had seen. She was aggressive, using the shield as much as a weapon as the sword, and it made her a tough opponent, unpredictable and aggressive. Not even mentioning her speed, dexterity and strength.

She faced off against Barret, one of their newer members but certainly with more time than Catra had at the sport. He was a fairly good swordsman favouring a longsword and small buckler shield, but this match favoured Catra’s greater speed and larger heater shield against Barret’s greater reach. She had picked a comfortable level of challenge not going for something easy like Kyle nor something hard like Mermista.

Catra started defensive at first gauging Barret’s ability before she went on the offensive. She was able to win three rounds against him before he got a handle on her and won two back. From there on they traded on and off for a few more rounds before they both moved on to other partners.

“She is good, with regular training she could probably do very well.” Reese said after watching her for a while longer.

“You think so?” Adora was of course rooting for Catra and was glad to have her, somewhat biased, opinion of Catra’s skill reaffirmed by Reese. 

“I do.” 

There was a glint in Reese’ cloudy gray eyes that Adora knew was determination. Though she didn’t know how Reese would get Catra excused from class on determination alone.

* * *

“Catra?” 

She stopped at the sound of her name and waved off her next opponent to find someone else. She pulled the mask off and hung it on her belt. Tangled hair clung to her face with sweat and she tried to brush it aside.

“Reese right?” She asked the stocky red haired woman who had called her.

The woman gave a curt affirmative nod. “I’m Adora’s second and the team’s tactical manager, I also deal with most of the paperwork side of the club.”

She offered a hand and Catra shook it nearly losing the appendage in the process despite the thick padded gloves. She tried her best to surreptitiously shake feeling back into her hand while Reese continued. 

“I wanted to know if you were planning on staying on with the team?” Reese carefully kept her features neutral and Catra didn’t know her well enough to discern anything from her so she couldn’t tell whether Reese wanted her to stay or to go.

She shrugged. “I’d like to, but I was only able to come because my class got canceled. I couldn’t afford the equipment anyway.”

Reese frowned. “That is tricky.” She bit her lip. “But you would stay on? If you could?”

Catra didn’t quite know what to make of that response but she nodded. “Yeah, maybe I can work it into my schedule next semester.”

Reese grunted. “What class do you normally have right now?”

“Earth systems science.” It was the easiest science class that still had a lab that Catra needed to fill check boxes on her way to graduation.

Reese smiled slightly. “The filler class, Adora, I and half a dozen others on the team have taken it.” She sighed. “Let me see what I can do.”

With that she turned and left leaving Catra more than a little bewildered.

* * *

Catra stood in the shallow water at the base of the pile of rocks that bounded the far end of their little clearing. Pant legs rolled up and net in hand it was her job to catch and store whatever Tweek managed to reel in on his line. The cooler next to her already had a half dozen good size fish in it. The beastman sat on the rocks up above her, his skinny legs dangling down and swinging against the rock.

“You know I guess I should have asked this before now, but do you have a fishing license Tweek?” Catra asked him from down below.

“I do actually, don’t think the sheriff's boat is going to be coming up our little stream here anytime soon, but It wouldn’t matter if it did.” His line twitched and he yanked back on the rod, setting the hook and reeling in the fish.

It came flopping out of the water until Catra snatchd the line and killed the fish with one quick plunge of her knife. She pried the hook out and Tweek finished reeling it back so he could bait the hook while Catra put the fish away in their cooler.

“How well do you know Adora?” She asked, trying and mostly failing to sound casual.

“Me? Hmmm we first met two years ago in an astronomy class, we’ve hung out pretty regularly since then. I like to think we’re pretty good friends.” He smiled to himself knowing she couldn’t see his face from where he was. “Why do you ask?”

“I uh…” She stopped contemplating what to say. 

He had a pretty good guess about what she wanted to ask him, but she needed to say it herself. Lord knows they were the only two who didn't see what was happening between them, with the possible exception of Glimmer who was being willfully ignorant of what was obviously happening.

“I was wondering uh if she was uh…” She closed her mouth and frowned. Having already opened her mouth she couldn’t back out now but she didn’t know how to continue. She shook her head and seemed to steel herself. “What do you think she would say ifIaskedherout?”

Her voice slowly rose in pitch and speed practically ending in a rushed squeak.

He chuckled. “Honestly, I’m positive she would say yes.”

Catra made a kind of squeaking sound that only his sensitive ears were able to hear. “You think so?”

“Yeah-” The rest of his response is interrupted by a squealing shout coming across the clearing.

Tweek looked over his shoulder to see Glimmer pelting across the clearing towards Bow and Perfuma where they were sitting a little ways away. He looked back down to see Catra looking up at him one eyebrow cocked. He gave her a shrug and turned back to see what the commotion was about. 

“Guys! I heard some great news!” Glimmer said coming up to the pair at the base of the boulders.

Bow and Perfuma looked at eachother then back to Glimmer waiting for her to continue. Tweek didn’t normally care much for Glimmer’s gossip but with his ears he couldn’t  _ not _ hear her. He noted Catra’s ears also cocked towards Glimmer despite the boulders in the way.

“Andy Stinson is going to ask Adora to the Meteor dance!” Glimmer proclaimed excitedly.

Tweek recognized the name, Adora and Glimmer had talked about him before, some kind of sport star he thought though he couldn’t remember which sport. He was pretty sure he hadn’t heard Adora mention him since becoming friends with Catra. Though he saw Catra’s ears were standing on end listening intently.

Perfuma made a little shrug, she wasn’t interested in Glimmers gossip very much and probably didn’t know Andy Stinson. 

Bow frowned and shrugged as well. “I’m sorry for his loss?”

Glimmer looked dumbstruck. “What? Adora has had a crush on him for ever!”

Bow slowly cocked one eyebrow. “I haven’t heard her mention him in over a month Glim.”

“He’s like perfect for her! He’s captain of the soccer team. They would make a great couple.”

_ Ah that was it. _

The conversation devolved into arguing after that and Tweek tuned them out. Though he could practically feel unease radiating off of Catra down below him.

“I wouldn’t worry about it.” He said down to Catra. “Glimmer has said that about everyone Adora has ever dated, and you can see how well that’s worked out.” He chuckled to himself. “I bet it’ll be the one she doesn’t approve of that will work out.”

He looked down at Catra as he said this though she was busy looking downstream chewing on her lip.

_ Well I tried, I need Bow for this kind of thing, time to do the only other thing I can. _

“I’ve got a friend moving up here in about two weeks, I bet you’d get along.”

_ Change the subject. _

It seemed to work because Catra snapped out of her trance and looked up at him with a furrowed brow. “Two weeks? I have two friends moving here in two weeks.”

“Entrapta Haverstrom?” He asked, curious now himself.

Her face lit up with surprise. “How do you know her?”

“Her family owns a mechanic shop in Selene.” Catra nodded clearly familiar with the place. “My family owns a junkyard just outside of town to the south. They came to pull parts all time, Entrapta and I practically grew up there together.”

Catra’s face scrunched up in thought before widening with realization. “Wait, are you the junkrat?”

Tweek laughed out loud. “She never used my name? Wait, that must mean you’re the Wildcat!”

They both dissolved into laughter.

Tweek was glad he could distract Catra from the Andy thing. He knew her well enough by now to know that if she was left to stew she would overthink herself into a panic.

* * *

Adora tapped her pen restlessly against her notebook, she had been unable to concentrate on it for almost twenty minutes now because she was too eager to get out of here. The last thing she had to do today was this study session and then she was free for the weekend. Everyone else was already out in the woods and she was eager to join them, they had a four day weekend and so they had all decided to camp out in the woods for it. Taking advantage of the still warm but milder weather before Fall brought the overcast and six months without the sun.

She was also planning on asking Catra to move in with her. At some point, she hoped a good moment to ask would come up because she had no clue how to bring it up otherwise. Though she had determined she would regardless of how awkward it was going to be.

Her phone started buzzing as the alarm went off signalling the end of her study session. She began rapidly packing her notebooks and papers away. She had a notebook in her mouth as she was wrestling a large unruly math textbook into her bag when someone approached her. She noticed them belatedly and spun around with the notebook still clenched in her teeth looking like some kind of crazed animal.

“Oh hello Andy, what’s up?” She asked after removing the notebook from her mouth and turning back to shove it into her bag.

She’d had a little bit of a thing for Andy a while back but she hadn’t really thought about him in a while. She hadn’t thought about a lot of the people she used to hang out with in a while.

“I heard you didn’t have a partner for the dance.” He replied smooth and suave.

“Dance?” Adora cocked her head for a second. “Oh the meteor dance! I completely forgot that was coming up.” She turned back to him and shook her head. “No I don’t have a partner, I don’t even have plans to go.”

_ I wonder if Catra would like to go? Dances aren’t her thing but the meteor shower is worth seeing. _

“Why don’t we go together?” He asked with that sort of cocky smile you had when you asked a question you knew the answer to already.

Adora stopped.

She hadn’t been expecting that, she probably should have been though. A date for the meteor dance was a pretty big deal in the social hierarchy of the school. Andy was the kind of guy people would expect her to go with, both of them were team captains, fit, ‘popular’. Her time spent in those circles told her this was a good idea, even advantageous for her because he had come to her. Her brain told her that, but in her heart she just couldn’t make herself care.

She had been slipping out of the politics of popularity for a while now, Catra had been the final straw. After meeting her she had spent almost no time in the old social circles she once had. 

She was happier for it too.

“Sorry but no, I’ve already got someone else I want to go with.” She smiled. “If we go at all.” She finished with a shrug and slung her bag onto her back leaving him behind.

She felt kinda bad for turning him down, but there was really only one person she would want to go with now. 

She felt lighter, like this was finally shrugging off the politics for good.

She supposed it was. People would probably start talking about her, rumors would spread. Somehow though she just, didn’t care.

Not long after she was walking through the woods towards their little clearing. A cigarette between her lips and a six pack of bottles dangling loosely from her fingers. Her pack was full of camping supplies and gifts from her aunt and uncle. She had gone and visited the farm the other day and they always prepared something for her friends too.

She felt relaxed and happy as though just the thought of a long weekend in the woods with Catra and the others was enough to drain away all the stress from her.

She stepped into the clearing to a chorus of shouted greetings.

Glimmer ran over to her. “Did he ask you? What did you say? What are you going to wear?”

Glimmer's rapid fire barrage simply did not connect with her current lethargy and she had to stop and think about what she had said.

“What?”

“Andy Stinson! Did he ask you to the dance!” Glimmer was practically vibrating with excitement.

“Yeah, I turned him down though I don’t even know if I’m going to go.” Adora replied. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Tweek elbow Catra in the ribs with a smug grin on his face. Catra for her part looked too relieved to respond properly. She wondered what about.

“What? Why did you turn him down!” Glimmer almost shrieked. 

“Because I didn’t want to go to the dance with him.” Adora replied simply cocking one eyebrow up.

“But you guys are like perfect for eachother!” Glimmer continued.

Adora snorted. “Only if you consider all the social politicking, I’m not interested in him at all.”

“So you’re just going to not go? That would be like social suicide!” Glimmer grabbed at her face.

“You need to calm down.” She looked over to Catra. “I don’t care what anyone else thinks the only people who matter are right here.” She said and walked over towards the others.

“I’ve got presents from the farm!” 

* * *

A wave of anxiety washed over Catra leaving her in the calm water on the other side as Adora walked towards her. 

She had turned him down.

She wasn’t quite sure what she would have done if Adora hadn't. Probably run off into the woods and have a messy breakdown. She had been psyching herself out so much over Adora she was sure she simply would not be able to handle hearing she had started dating someone else.

Adora was pulling boxes wrapped in bandanas out of her bag and handing them to people as she passed them. Stepping up to her she handed one to Tweek and then pulled out a final box wrapped in a black bandana and handed it to her.

“What’s this?” She asked, taking the box. It was heavier than it looked.

“Something my aunt put together, she always does this when I go out to visit them.” Adora stepped past her to put down the rest of her things.

Catra unwrapped the box and opened it. The smell of salt, fish, and tobacco wafted up to her and she took a deep breath of it. Neatly wrapped with care inside the box were a wide assortment of goodies. Fillets of smoked salmon wrapped in wax paper, long strips of dried salted jerky, two little rolls of cheese wrapped in cloth, a little jar of tartar sauce, two thick slabs of fudge, a few thick oat biscuits, and a packet of hand rolled cigarillos. 

“This all looks incredible.” She murmured looking to Tweek who already had his box open and was already eating.

She saw his box had a lot more cheese as well as some thick wheat biscuits. He cradled the box defensively against his chest.

“Aunt Selma hopes you like it Cat, I knew you liked fish and wanted some cigarettes but beyond that she was just guessing.” Adora said with a smile.

Catra pulled out one of the cigarillos. It smelled like tobacco and woodsmoke. “Gunna ruin me with these, I’ll never be able to go back to store bought.”

Adora laughed and leaned in so Catra could light hers from the ember. It was normal for them, a habit they had developed mostly due the fact that it was an even guess if either of them had a working lighter. Leaning in close Catra could feel herself getting lost in Adora’s eyes. A sailing ship lost on those storm gray seas, Adora smiled and the clouds parted setting the wavetops alight with sparkling fire.

They pulled apart and the spell was broken leaving Catra feeling dazed. She sucked in a breath filling her lungs with blueish smoke and exhaling. 

_ Damn these are good. _

“Alright who is bunking with who?” Bow shouted standing amongst the pile of tents.

* * *

The sleeping arrangements sorted themselves out easily enough.

Glimmer and Bow, Lyndis and Perfuma, Catra and Adora, and Tweek was by himself. 

Adora sat with Catra on the riverbank munching on some of the goodies that had come from her Aunt, they had finished pitching their tent already. Catra was gnawing on a piece of the smoked salmon with enthusiasm and Adora couldn’t help but smile at her. Catra was so varied she could look so… cute like this as she attacked the salmon with tiny bites, she could look so regal decked out in the bulky training gear for HEMA practice, and she could look so… Her mind went back to that morning in her apartment, staring as a Half naked Catra had stretched languidly illuminated by the morning glow coming in through the window. She felt her face heat and busied herself with her food trying to hide her face and hoping Catra didn’t see.

_ Wait, why am I embarrassed about this? _

They literally had sex half the night before that morning. So why was she so worked up over a little staring? 

Catra nudged her, bringing her out of her musings. “Come on they’re starting the fire.”

_ I can figure it out later. _

She took Catra’s hand helping pull her to her feet and they walked over to the fire pit together.

She grabbed two bottles out of the cooler and handed one to Catra.

“Cider?” She asked, examining the bottle.

“Yep, it’s what I usually drink when I don’t want liquor. Before I knew about red ale.” She chuckled. “And I do want to remember this night so I don’t plan on drinking liquor.”

Catra chuckled. “Fair enough.”

They clinked their bottles together.

Adora found herself leaning against Catra. They were onto the last bottles of cider she had brought and she was pleasantly buzzing from it. Catra leaned back against her mutually supporting each other as they swayed to Lyn’s idle violin playing. 

It was perfect, she was warm and happy and just a little sluggish. It was fun to be here around the fire with her friends but she was quickly approaching the point at which she would rather be sequestered in the tent with Catra. 

A rumble of thunder growled through the dark sky. Catra met her eyes, wide with surprise.

“RUN!” Someone shouted.

Everyone scrambled for their tents as the sky opened up and rain began to pour.

Catra made it in before her and she zipped the tent flap up behind them. In the few moments it had taken to scramble into the tent she had still gotten wet enough that she wanted out of her clothes. Turning around Catra was flopped on the ground across both sleeping bags.

“Ahh I’m too drunk for this!” She moaned.

“You are not drunk.” Adora said through a grin as she crawled over Catra to get to her bag purposely kneeing her in the side.

Catra giggled and reached up before throwing her over her side. Adora found herself on her back with Catra on top of her, having forgotten Catra knew judo. 

She looked up and saw Catra’s glowing eyes looking down at her in the dimness of the storm. Rain came down in sheets lashing the outside of the tent, lightning flashed and thunder cracked, but all Adora had room for were Catra’s eyes, and the hunger in them.

Like that they were tearing each other's clothes off. Adora couldn’t say what caused it, maybe it was the alcohol, maybe just the proximity and the good times, maybe Adora just  _ really  _ needed to feel Catra’s skin on her own. 

Her damp shirt came off and she squirmed out of her bra faster than she ever had before.

Catra got her shirt off and Adora pulled at her sports bra until it popped off.

“Hey!” Catra growled, though the effect was ruined by the smile on her face.

“Shut up.” Adora grinned back, heaving up to pull Catra against her, her mouth finding purchase on Catra’s neck.

Catra’s hands wrapped around her shoulders and she could feel claws scraping at her skin raising goosebumps. Catra leaned into her wiggling out of her pants, her face pressed against Adora’s neck. 

“Condoms?” Catra breathed in her ear.

“I have some, I am sterile though.” She replied loving the feeling of Catra squirming against her as he tried to get out of her pants.

“Really?” She asked. Adora saw something in her mismatched eyes, excitement mixed with lust and apprehension.

“Perks of being a freak.” Adora replied with a grin. “But I’ll wear one if you want me to, always have before.”

“No, that’s perfect I want to feel you.” Catra purred and Adora could feel the reverb in her chest. 

She was already hard by the time Catra dragged her pants off. She could see wetness dripping down the inside of Catra’s thighs when lightning flashed outside, a curl of satisfaction in her chest that she did this to Catra.

She leaned forward again pulling Catra against her so that she could lay hickies against her neck again. Catra took her in hand causing her to gasp against Catra’s flushed skin guiding her into her core. Catra’s lips parted and pulled her in enveloping her in delicious warmth and closing an electric circuit between them. Adora couldn’t get close enough to her, she couldn’t press enough of her body against Catra, couldn’t feel enough of her at once.

Adora grunted as Catra slid down until their hips met. She bit Catra’s neck, something she had picked up from a little research. The sounds Catra made in response told her she had done well. Catra’s legs wrapped around her waist holding them together as she mewled, her entire body tensed claws dragged over her back, but Adora loved it, loved Catra shuddering against her as she came, loved the feeling of her clenching tight and hot and wet.

“Adora, Adora, Adora!” She whispered fast and needy under her breath.

With a grunt she switched their position and pushed Catra down against the ground bucking into her hard for a few strokes more before she couldn’t stand it.

Catra bit her, sharp fangs sinking into her neck, but it felt good, it felt right. 

“Catra!” She grunted in one final breath before ecstasy took her.

Spasms of electric pleasure shivered through her body as she pumped her seed into Catra.

She regained control of her body after another moment and all but collapsed on top of Catra, using the last of her strength she rolled onto her back pulling Catra with her so that they lay panting together with Catra against her side.

“Holy shit.” Catra breathed into her neck.

Adora let out a breathless laugh and the arm she had around Catra’s waist squeezed her a little.

She lay her back and breathed. This was  _ perfect  _ just her and Catra, alcohol and the smell of sex and rain. Even the crosshatch of claw marks on her back seemed to throb pleasantly. A little voice in her head told her it was because she was into Magikats. A flush of warmth burned in her, but she couldn’t deny it.

The bite on her neck was interesting though. She had done a little research on Magikats and knew it was something Catra would probably enjoy, she had been right, but knew that she would have to try a lot harder to leave a mating mark. That was different from the playful bite she had made. Catra would have a bruise for a few days, but She would have a scar from Catra’s teeth. That’s how it was supposed to work, for  _ mates _ . 

Adora had stopped herself from kissing Catra during sex, it had been harder than she thought it would. She had wanted to desperately but that would cross a line in her mind. If they did that they wouldn’t be casual fuck buddies anymore, it would be deeper than that. She realized that she  _ wanted  _ that, wanted to be closer, but she didn’t know how Catra felt. Catra had bitten her though, was that an inkling to her feelings or just a slip in the heat of the moment?

“You bit me.” She said tentatively into the semi-darkness.

“Yeah I uh got carried away.” Catra said shyly, curling her face deeper into her side trying to hide her face. Adora thought that was silly but also adorable.

“I do know what a matemark is Catra, I have done a little homework.” There was a smile in her voice and she hoped it would help calm any worries Catra had about it.

“I uh I shouldn’t-” Adora could feel Catra tense against her, like she was going to bolt.

Adora gripped her tight with her arm and tried to meet her gaze, those glowing eyes easy to find in the darkness.

“It’s fine, I’m not going anywhere Cat.” She chuckled. “I like it, that I’ll always have a reminder of you.”

“I… I still shouldn’t have done it, not without your permission.” 

“Maybe.” Adora rolled over so that she was over Catra again. Leaning down to lay kisses against her neck. “If it makes you feel better you have my permission now.”

“Adora that’s not how ah!” Her voice cut off to a squeak as Adora bit down just a little against her neck.

“I know what it means Cat, I…” She stopped glancing away as she mustered her courage. “I didn’t know if you felt the same, but now…” Her hand came up and grazed over the wound on her neck. 

She smiled and leaned down bringing their lips together.

She tasted like smoke and cinnamon and dark chocolate, tasted like comfortable afternoons in her apartment, like long nights by the fire, like home. Adora drank it in, drank  _ her  _ in and drowned in it all.

Catra’s fingers slid through her hair pulling her ponytail out and scratching against her skull. Adora found her hands cupping the back of Catra’s head guiding her to a better angle to deepen their connection.

Finally she broke it, gasping for breath against her lips unwilling to move more than a few inches away. “I’m yours.”

A rumbling purr bubbled up from her chest in reply.

Legs wrapped around her waist again and pulled Adora towards her guiding her back into her core. She grunted and pressed forward until their hips met again and she felt  _ complete.  _

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well a little late but we got there in the end. I hope you all enjoy this one! 
> 
> I got a lot of wonderful comments last chapter and I love hearing what you all think! It's really a great motivator. I have a lot more planned for this, just because they finally stopped being idiots doesn't mean I'm done with them.


	5. Skipping Steps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adora’s hand continued gently stroking her hair, after a long while Adora spoke again. “This is my mate Catra… I’m Catra’s mate… my mate.” She said testing the feel of the words in her mouth.
> 
> Catra’s blush grew darker and darker as she spoke, if only Adora knew what she was doing to her.
> 
> “Hmmm I think I like it.”
> 
> Catra made an undignified squeaking sound.

Adora woke slowly to the sound of dripping water pattering on their tent. 

For a change, she wasn’t tired.

She was comfortable, warm and content with Catra pulled in close against her chest. She buried her face in the crook of her neck and breathed deep. 

Dark chocolate and cinnamon and sex.

Catra stirred and Adora pressed kisses against her neck. “Good morning.”

“Mmm maybe in ten more minutes it will be.” Catra murmured sleepily.

Adora chuckled. “Well I’m getting up for some air, it  _ reeks  _ of sex in here.”

“Who’s fault is that miss  _ four rounds in a row? _ ” Catra fired back, still snarky even when half awake.

“I can’t help that you do this to me.” She whispered in her ear as she leaned in for one last kiss against her cheek before committing to getting up.

Catra’s only reply to that was a muffled noise of appreciation.

“Come join me when you’re ready… We should talk about some things.” She tried to be soft, to be gentle so as not to worry Catra. It was important that they make things clear, but it could wait another ten minutes.

One eye cracked open, the blue one, and met her gaze, she smiled and Catra made the smallest of nods before closing her eye again.

Satisfied Adora pulled on some pants and a sports bra before slipping out of the tent. She zipped it closed behind her since Catra was still naked, and took in a breath of fresh storm cleaned air.

The wet earthy scent of the forest filled her lungs, clean and damp and pure. The forest was quiet save for the pitter patter of water falling from trees, and the energetic burble of the storm swollen stream. The sun was just above the far valley side and the bright morning rays were warm on her skin.

A serene morning in the woods.

She brought their fire back from the dead with some wood they had kept under a tarp and a firestarter log from her pack. She set a pot on the iron tripod cooking stand and left it to heat while she went and sat on the riverbank.

The river was swollen and running swift from the rain and she sat and watched as pieces of flotsam floated past her, thinking about what she would say to Catra. A little while later she heard her emerge from their tent and bustle around the campsite for a moment before she padded over to her through the damp grass.

She sat down behind her and Adora felt her hands on her back lifting her sports bra off her.

“Hey.” She said without much protest.

“Relax I need to get at your back.” Catra replied.

Adora let herself be undressed and was about to turn back to see what Catra was up to when she felt a warm washcloth pressed against her back. Catra ran it over the long scratches she had left across her cleaning them gently with the water Adora had put on to heat. It was soothing and the minor pain faded from her awareness as Catra worked. She sighed contently and let Catra work cleaning every mark with care, and after four rounds there were a lot. Lastly she brought the washcloth up to the bite on her neck ever so gently cleaning it and wiping away the dried blood from her skin. Satisfied with her work she pressed close and lay a kiss against the injury before backing off to fiddle with things out of Adora’s sight.

When the washcloth came back it stung against the scratches on her back. She sucked in a hiss of breath but forced herself not to flinch away. “You raided the medkit?”

“Hydrogen peroxide.” She confirmed. “Though I’d just use that shitty vodka Glitter brought if we didn’t have any.”

Adora let out a huff of laughter and let Catra continue, the peroxide creating stinging lines against her back but cleaning the myriad cuts and evaporating off leaving her dry. It was so tender the way Catra had simply done this, Adora hadn’t even thought about the scratches and they probably would have been fine without a cleaning, but it warmed her to know that Catra  _ had  _ thought about it and that kept the worst of the stinging at bay.

Adora didn’t look back until Catra had finished cleaning the mark on her neck. Catra plopped the washcloth down in the bowl and scooted over to sit next to her now that her work was done.

“Sorry, about the cuts.” Catra spoke low, pointedly looking anywhere but at her face.

Adora leaned over and kissed her neck. “Don’t be, I kinda liked it.”

“Oh my god.” Catra pushed her face away as a furious blush lit her cheeks.

Adora laughed. “Hey I mean it!”

Catra looked at her for a moment before throwing herself at her leaning into Adora’s side and resting her head against her shoulder. Adora lay an arm around her shoulders and Catra’s tail wrapped around her waist.

“We should talk.” Catra said quietly.

Adora leaned her head against Catra’s kissing the top of her head. “Mhmmm.”

“I… I shouldn’t have done that. The bite.” She felt Catra tense a little and she rubbed at her shoulders.

“I’m glad you did. I’m glad you… feel that way about me.” She knew that a matemark was a fairly serious thing amongst Magikats, it wasn’t quite permanent, a scar would eventually heal but it was a dedication to have the mark of another on you and visible for years at least. Somewhere farther than dating but short of engagement.

“I still  _ should  _ have asked, I didn’t even think you would know what it meant and I didn’t  _ ask. _ It was selfish. I wanted you for myself and…” She stopped and steadied herself. “I was worried someone else was going to take you.”

“The thing with Andy.” Adora realized.

“Yeah, it’s stupid, not like he or anyone else around here really would even know what the mark meant.” She shook her head. “I made a decision that affects you without consulting you.”

“It’s okay, that’s why we're out here now, talking.” Adora wrapped her arms around Catra’s waist and pulled her into her lap. She fit so well against her, Adora was just large enough to fully envelope Catra and just tall enough that resting her chin on Catra’s shoulder was perfect.

“And it’s not stupid, it means something to you, and it means something to me.” She smiled against Catra’s neck. “And I’ll make sure it means something to everyone else even if I have to write it on my forehead.”

Catra snorted. “You would too.”

Adora squeezed her gently. “I would.”

A purr curled through Catra’s chest and Adora could feel it against her reverberating through her chest and making her smile.

“I’m yours.” She repeated her breathy promise from last night. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“I know.” Catra’s hands slid over her own wrapped around her waist and her tail curled around her right bicep. “I’m not going anywhere without you either.”

Adora kissed at the bruises and hickies she had left last night. “I’m no expert but I think we may have skipped a step or two somewhere.”

“Mhmmm that’s okay, dating sucks ass anyway.” She didn’t need to see Catra’s face, she could imagine the all too familiar smirk in her mind's eye.

She laughed. “I can’t disagree with you there.” She chuckled again. “Why don’t we… skip a few more steps?”

Catra turned to look at her one eyebrow cocked curiously. 

“Will you...” She stopped, losing her courage for a moment, Catra’s hands squeezed over hers. “Will you move in with me?”

Catra’s eyes widened.

“I had been planning on asking you before…  _ this _ because I can tell how much this roommate thing is affecting you.” She let out a short laugh. “I was going to offer you the couch though I don’t know if that will be necessary now. Unless that’s too much too fast? I uh you can still have the couch if you want. I just wanted to make sure you had a way out of the dorms, if you wanted it.”

Catra bumped her head against Adora’s. “You dork.” She sucked in a slightly shaky breath. “Y-yes I’ll move in with you, thank you Adora really, you have no idea how much this means to me.”

Adora couldn’t stop her grin and she squeezed Catra a little tighter. “For you? It’s nothing.” She kissed her neck again, she was addicted. “Rent free too.”

Catra turned to argue but Adora quieted her with a kiss before she could say anything. 

“My parents pay for the apartment, the only stipulation they gave me was that I had to bring you home to meet them.” She laughed. “I suppose that means something a little different  _ now. _ ”

Catra sighed through a smile. “You have to at least let me pay for some of the groceries.”

“Mmmm that’s acceptable.” She hummed closing her eyes.

“And.” Catra continued.

Adora opened her eyes to look at her attentively.

“If I want some dick, you have to let me have it without needing to convince you I’m not trying to pay you back with sex first.”

Adora burst out laughing. “Ok ok deal.”

“Good, probably won’t need the couch then.”

They both laughed.

“Oh hey let me take a picture for my friend, she’ll flip her lid when she sees it.”

The picture showed her with Adora hugging her from behind both of them smiling, Catra’s messy hair cascading down her left side while Adora peered over her right shoulder. Even though Adora clearly had no top on her hair was still done with her ponytail and little poof while Catra was dressed but her hair was in it’s usual nightmarish cascade. You could also clearly see the  _ numerous  _ hickies and bruises on Catra’s neck and the bite on Adora’s.

“Scorp is gunna flip.” She sent the picture and leaned back into Adora.

Almost immediately she got a response as her phone began to explode with text notifications starting with:

> OMG I’M SO HAPPY FOR YOU.

Followed by several  _ pages  _ of nothing but happy emojis and lovey-dovey gibberish.

“God I’m gunna be sick.” Catra remarked in her more usual deadpan voice.

Adora chuckled and Catra stood up.

“I’m going to get you a shirt before you get dirty and ruin all the good work I did."

Adora smiled at her. "You're the best."

Adora sighed and pulled her sports bra back on. They still had two more nights out here in the woods, and even after that Catra would be moving in with her. She hoped her grades could handle the added 'distraction'.

* * *

Catra dug through Adora's duffel bag, warring in her mind what to grab. The tanktop was probably the most weather appropriate seeing as the day was likely to become humid from the rain, but it would also show the various marks she had left on Adora while the T-shirt would hide  _ most  _ of them.

"What happened to you Adora?" A shouted voice from outside.

She frowned, shrugged, and took the tank top. She wanted to see more skin anyway and that's what really mattered.

She stepped out of the tent and found Adora still sitting by the river turned around to face Glimmer who was the one that had shouted. Catra could see the thought forming before she said it, she  _ knew  _ exactly what Adora was going to say and was rolling her eyes before she even opened her mouth.

“Just a little  _ catscratch  _ Glim, nothing to worry about.”

“Why am I attracted to you again?” She replied in an overly dramatic tone of exasperation.

Adora laughed reaching out a hand which Catra took pulling her to her feet. Adora didn’t let go and pulled her in close using her height advantage to peer down into her eyes. “Ask me that again.” She whispered in a low husky voice while her eyes bore into her.

_ Oh fuck. _

“Put this on before you ruin someone’s innocence.” Catra managed shoving the tank top into Adora’s arms while she tried to control the raging blush on her cheeks.

Adora laughed as she slipped the top over her head. It covered most of the claw marks on her back but did absolutely nothing for the hickies and bite mark on her neck. 

“W-what’s happening right now?” Glimmer begged looking between the two of them.

“Sex, Glimmer.” Tweek said coming out of his tent. “They had sex and Catra.” He raised his hands making clawing motions. “Is a Magikat.”

Glimmer turned beet red.

“Did you hear us? I didn’t think we were that loud.” Adora asked behind her.

“No, but I’m not a stone cold idiot so I knew what was going to happen.” He replied with a little smug confidence in his voice.

“I feel like you may be trying to get me to read between the lines here Tweek.” Adora replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Hey you got there in the end, and that’s what matters.” Catra turned to look at him. “And remember it’s a team sport.”

Catra scowled at him but he just laughed.

Glimmer disappeared back into her tent, her face still red and Tweek calmed himself.

“Really though, I’m happy you two figured things out.”

She looked at Adora who looked back at her. Those soft gray/blue eyes full of affection. 

“Yeah, me too.”

* * *

Bow looked up as Glimmer burst back into the tent.

“Are you ok?” He asked upon seeing her face was red as a tomato.

“Adora and Catra are together?” She asked with an edge of hysteria to her voice. “When did everyone figure this out but me?”

“Glimmer they’ve been friends with benefits since the beginning, and they’ve been pinning for one another since not long after.”

_ Even if they didn’t realize themselves.  _ He thought to himself with a mental eye roll.

“What? how did I not..?”

“Maybe you’d have realized if you didn’t have your head so far up your own ass.”

Glimmer glared at him but he shrugged it off.

“When was the last time you had lunch with Adora hmm? When was the last time you sat down and talked with her? When was the last time you even asked how she was?” He stared her down as her anger crumbled away.

“You’ve been so invested in the stupid social politics you’ve been practically ignoring all of us, even when you’re here for the bonfire you spend more time talking to other people on your phone than you do with us.” He sighed and stood. “Just think about it alright? Maybe look at how well getting out of that game has been for Adora.”

“Yeah sleeping with a Helmand girl.” She replied venomously.

Bow stopped. “If you don’t lose that attitude by tonight you can sleep outside.”

She looked up at him and he scowled down at her. It was hard to make him this angry and she knew that, he hoped it got through to her.

“If you actually spent time around her instead of glaring holes in her back for more than thirty seconds you’d know what a great person she is. You’d know how happy she’s made Adora.”

Without another glance he stormed out of the tent.

He was immediately greeted by the sight of his friends around the campfire. Adora was stirring coffee brewing in a pot over the fire, Catra was standing next to her talking to Tweek but her tail was affectionately draped over Adora’s shoulder and wrapping around her arm.

His temper evaporated like rain on the asphalt.

* * *

It hadn’t quite sunken in yet, that her and Adora were together. Oddly it didn’t feel like things had changed between them drastically, or at least not in the way they talked. They were much more physical around each other and Catra found this to be extremely pleasing. She was normally so averse to touching she didn’t like letting people close to her, but Adora was the exception and Catra reveled in the feel of her touch.

Right now Catra sat cross legged by the fire eating breakfast. Pre-packed fruit and stuff from the care packages Adora's aunt had made.

Adora had finished eating and now lay with her head in Catra's lap dozing peacefully. Every now and then Catra would press a piece of fruit to her lips and Adora would eat it.

With a sly smile she took a grape and dipped it in the jar of tartar sauce before feeding it to Adora.

Gagging and spluttering Adora spat out the offending fruit while Catra cackled. Adora snatched a slice of orange and pounced.

Catra ended up on her back with Adora holding her hands down, the orange in her mouth. Helpless beneath her Adora leaned down and pressed their mouths together biting down on the orange slice and spilling the juice. Catra tried to resist pushing the orange away with her tongue but Adora just deepened the kiss and Catra's will crumbled. She was okay with losing this battle and despite not liking oranges very much she didn’t mind it this time.

They spent most of the day doing nothing, they made an attempt at doing some of the homework they had but didn’t make much progress when Adora couldn’t keep her mouth off Catra’s neck. She didn’t understand Adora’s infatuation with kissing and mouthing her neck, but she wasn’t about to complain either. It did make it hard to focus on her mathematics homework though. Well harder than usual.

They lay together now by the fire Catra curled into Adora with her head on her stomach.

“So… what should I call you Cat?” Adora asked slowly.

“Catra.” She replied practically able to hear Adora rolling her eyes at her.

“You know that’s not what I meant.” Adora’s hands which had been gently combing through her hair flicked her forehead.

“True, what do you mean?” She asked, still unwilling to completely give up her nap though she did push her head into Adora’s hand to convince her to go back to stroking her hair.

“Should I call you my girlfriend, or… my mate?” 

Catra stirred and moved herself on top of Adora so that she could lay her head on her chest and look up at her.

“You don’t have to call me your mate, I… I forced that on you.” She buried her face under Adora’s chin rather than look at her.

Adora’s hand continued gently stroking her hair, after a long while Adora spoke again. “This is my mate Catra… I’m Catra’s mate… my mate.” She said testing the feel of the words in her mouth.

Catra’s blush grew darker and darker as she spoke, if only Adora knew what she was doing to her.

“Hmmm I think I like it.”

Catra made an undignified squeaking sound.

“Awwww.” Adora squeezed her tighter.

“I swear to god I will kill you.” Catra murmured cursing her face for turning so red.

Adora just laughed harder.

* * *

Glimmer volunteered to pick up dinner that night. She had spent a lot of time alone that day and had come back sheepish quickly offering to pick up chinese.

When she returned she not only had the chinese but also a not insignificant amount of alcohol of varying quality and appeal. Adora knew what was happening, this had happened before a few times. Glimmer was bad at apologies and she knew it, but if she got drunk enough she would apologize in a tearful falling over kind of way. 

_ Bow must have talked to her. _

“Oh boy here we go.” Adora mumbled.

Catra looked up at her. “What?”

“Glimmer is going to get hammered and then make a gross drunken apology.” It was somewhat unpleasant to behold, but Glimmer always stood by it and would act differently regardless of how drunk she got she wouldn’t forget, so overall it was good.

“Ah.” Catra said with a knowing hum.

Glimmer walked over with a bag of food and sheepishly held it out. Catra who was in Adora’s lap took the bag. She stopped wrung her hands for a second and then looked up at the two vaguely expectant faces before her and froze.

“I uh, I’ve been kind of an asshole recently.” She tried tentatively.

“Yes you have.” Adora said flatly.

“I just, I was so engrossed in being popular, I thought that’s what mattered. Being popular meant having friends right?” She shook her head. “But you were right, the only people who matter are right here, and…” She blinked tears away. “And I was pushing them away because of ‘popularity’.”

Adora smiled slightly. “It takes something different for all of us, for me it was Catra, for you it was Bow. Wasn’t it?”

The look on Glimmer’s face told her she had hit the mark.

“Here I uh, got you guys this, I’m sorry for being an ass.” Glimmer handed them a six pack of Magna the Red.

Adora smiled and took the offered cans. “Thank you Glimmer, try not to get  _ too  _ sloshed will you.”

“You know I can’t promise that.” She replied with a grimace of acceptance.

Adora sighed. “Yeah I know.”

Glimmer moved off to continue handing out the food and making awkward apologies.

Adora bumped her head against Catra. “Come on I’m hungry.”

Catra laughed and opened the bag pulling out the stuffed cartons one at a time, careful not to jostle them too much lest they burst and spill their delicious contents. Unwilling to relinquish her position Adora refused to move and simply ate her food out of Catra’s lap. It would have annoyed Catra more, but knowing this Adora fed every third or fourth bite to her to keep her mollified.

By the end they still had plenty of leftover food for later. Not even Adora’s ferocious appetite could handle the gargantuan serving size of chinese takeout. Practically comatose now Adora dozed on Catra’s shoulder.

“Gunna get fat if you keep eating like this.” Catra teased.

Adora kissed at her neck and mumbled. “I’ll just work it off by fucking you.”

Catra chuckled. “Oh will you now? What if I’m too tired?”

Adora lazily opened her eyes to give Catra a bemused look. “Really? You too tired for sex?” Adora closed her eyes and snuggled into Catra’s neck. “I’ll be an eight foot tall warrior princess with a magic sword before  _ that  _ happens.”

Catra didn’t make any further argument and Adora chalked it up as a win. 

“Hey?” Adora murmured against her neck.

“What?”

“Do you want to come home with me for Labor Day weekend? My family always has a big cookout and I told them I’d ask you.”

"Meet your family huh?" Catra paused. "I'm not doing anything so I can, do you… do you think they'll be ok with… us?"

"I'm sure they'll love you." She squeezed Catra affectionately. "And if they don't, well they can get bent, it's not up to them."

It was easy for her to say because she couldn't imagine a world in which her family  _ didn't  _ like Catra, but she meant it all the same. 

"Do you think your family will like me?" She asked, suddenly feeling the apprehension and worry that Catra had a moment ago.

"You kidding me? I'm going to show you off like I won gold at the Olympics, though maybe the Lottery is more accurate." Catra replied.

Adora chuckled. 

"Maybe I'll have you carry me in the first time…" She mused. "Or oil you up like one of those body builders."

"I am  _ not  _ doing that." Adora paused contemplating for a second. “I could wear a compression shirt though.”

“Ooooh yes you should definitely do that!” Catra purred approvingly. “Mmm I can’t wait to see the look on Matra’s face when I bring you in with me.”

“Your older sister right?” Adora tried to recall if Catra had said much more than her name in the past.

“Yes, she always teases me about being single while she’s been with her mate for years. It’ll be so good. I’ve gotta come up with some excuse for you to bench press me.” The maniacal glee in Catra’s voice was slightly unsettling, but Adora could understand the sibling rivalry.

“When is the next time you’ll be visiting home?” 

Adora was prepared to give up some holidays with her family to visit Catra’s, that was only fair. She hoped too that Catra’s family would like her.

“It’ll be the second weekend in September, I’ll be going home for two days for my mother’s birthday.” Catra leaned back into her looking at her hands in her lap suddenly nervous. “Do you want to come?”

Adora slid her hands over Catra’s stilling them by twining their fingers together. “I would love to.”

“God they have no idea about us, this is gunna be kinda sudden for them.”

“It was kinda sudden for us too.” Adora countered with a laugh. “We haven’t exactly done this by the book.”

“True, well they’ll just have to deal with it, guess I should probably give them some warning though…”

Catra pulled out her phone. “I should probably call.”

“Yeah me too.” Reluctantly she stood and they stepped a little ways away from the campfire to gain a little privacy.

* * *

Lyn’s violin thrummed with an upbeat fiddling tune and Adora swung Catra around in a wild dance. Neither of them actually knew how to dance, but that hardly mattered. They swung and spun to the music around the fire like some kind of pagan ritual. Catra’s eyes flashed in the firelight and Adora smiled back with a ferocious grin trying her best to match Catra’s wild thrill. She looked like some kind of cackling demon in the half-light and dark forested backdrop and Adora was absolutely entranced by her.

Tweek was surprisingly graceful apparently knowing some kind of dance that must have been native to his people. Lyn weaved and bobbed with her violin and Perfuma swayed and twirled. Bow had started dancing with Glimmer but by this point she was hopelessly gone repeatedly getting up and staggering around before falling over. Alternating wildly between drunken silly glee and sobbing apologies. It didn’t take long for her to be on her back staring dazedly up at the sky mumbling curses and apologies under her breath.

“I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH!” She shouted from the ground raising a chorus of laughter.

Adora had to help Bow haul her into their tent at the end when she passed out cold.

“She’s going to have a wicked headache tomorrow.” Adora said looking at her sleeping friend already snoring loudly.

“Yeah, but she needed to do this, you know how she is.” Bow replied, bending down and sticking one of those butterfly snoring things to her nose. Her snoring quickly subsided and she shifted in her sleep.

Adora looked at the soft smile on Bow’s face as he looked at Glimmer and wondered if this is what he had felt like looking at her and Catra.

“Alright, you have fun I’m gunna go fuck the shit out of Catra.” She smiled at the look he gave her for that. “I told her I had to work off all that chinese food.”

He rolled his eyes. “She is a terrible influence on you.” He said sarcastically.

“Probably, but I don’t care.” Adora turned and crawled out of the tent before heading back for her own.

Catra was waiting for her within, a lecherous smirk on her face. “You know I can hear you right?”

Adora grinned back. “And?”

“And you better get your clothes off before I tear them to shreds.”

* * *

Catra rode Adora panting and sweating as she bounced and ground her hips down into her. This was their second round and Catra could still feel the warmth of Adora’s first in her belly, they had decided on this position so Catra wouldn’t tear up Adora’s back further since she wasn’t sure she could trust herself not to do it with Adora on top of her.

Adora drove her wild in a way she couldn’t understand, from her cock that filled her so perfectly to the way her strong hands burned on her skin and moved her so easily as though she weighed nothing at all to her relentless stamina. She was half animal when Adora was inside her, and Adora matched her somehow knowing where to press her and when to drag it out.

Adora’s hips slammed upwards into her while the hands on her waist pulled her down. She let out a needy moan as Adora pumped her second load into her, heat blooming anew in her belly. As soon as Adora had control of her body again she leaned forward until Catra was in her lap and her lips were hot on her own one hand holding her close while the other went to her core working over her clit until with a shuddering groan she came as well.

Catra curled against Adora’s chest catching her breath while Adora rubbed circles over her back and kissed the top of her head.

“I want you to bite me.” She leaned back so Adora could see her eyes. “We’re both supposed to have the mark.”

“My teeth aren’t exactly made for that, I don’t want to hurt you.”

Adora’s eyes were so kind, but Catra needed the animal back.

“I want you to do it, I want your mark on me, as long as you do it in the heat of the moment it won’t hurt much.” Catra reassured her. “It didn’t hurt when I bit you did it?”

Adora’s eyes glanced down to Catra’s neck. “No… not really, but I’m going to have to bite a lot harder.”

“Please.”

Adora sighed. “I can’t deny you now can I? Not when you look at me like that.”

Adora pulled her out of her lap and rolled her over so she was on her hands and knees. Catra swallowed hard, this was a more… traditional position for Magikats to mate and she wondered if Adora did it on purpose. 

Despite this being their third round now she shivered when Adora pressed into her again. Pushing forward until their hips met before Adora leaned over her, never putting any weight on her, just pressing close and warm against her back, mouth going to her neck.

“Right side?” She asked against her skin.

“Yes.” She breathed.

Adora began to move then soft and slow and tender. One hand holding her up while the other slid down Catra’s stomach to play with her clit. It didn’t take long before Catra was climbing towards another orgasm crashing over the edge with a moan, and then Adora’s teeth sank into her and she screamed. A loud lustful cry that she never knew she had in her.

When the cry finally faded Adora’s voice was in her ear. “Are you ok?”

“Yes, finish in me, I need it.” She replied in a voice dripping with lust that got through even Adora’s worry, because she immediately resumed her thrusting.

The bite had hurt, but the need it had stirred in her belly overwhelmed it and all she could think of was her mate finishing in her. Deep instincts from ancient times stirred her to thoughts of breeding, though the rational part of her brain knew Adora couldn’t knock her up no matter how hard they tried.

They went for another two rounds before finally collapsing exhausted onto their bedding.

Catra lay on top of Adora while her hands rubbed gently at her back stroking her hair. 

“I feel gross and sweaty.” Catra murmured.

Adora chuckled softly. “We can go back to my- our apartment tomorrow and shower.”

Catra purred.

“You sure have been doing that a lot.” Adora teased.

“Only for you.” Catra replied truthfully. She pulled herself up eye level with Adora. “I guess that happens when you fall in love right?”

Adora’s eyes widened slightly and then softened. “You get all soft and mushy?”

“Yep, never would have caught me purring for anything before, love makes you soft.” She nodded sagely.

“Mmm well I guess my opponents will probably appreciate that, because I am hopelessly in love.”

Catra leaned down and kissed her, slow and gentle. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Catra lay her head down on Adora’s shoulder and closed her eyes. This was it, Adora was her comfortable place, nothing could hurt her here in these arms. The future didn’t seem so scary with Adora here and the past couldn’t come up to haunt her. 

The mark on her neck throbbed and she buzzed with warmth.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back on schedule! I really got a lot of this chapter done pretty quick fueled by all the positive stuff you guys said on the last chapter! Next chapter will be family visiting time, not sure if it will include one or both we'll see, if it's both t will be a long one. I really have been doing a lot of writing recently and I've got a few other fics in various states of completeness lying around though I'm not letting them get in the way of this one for the time being. I might have some real smut for smuts sake done soon though.
> 
> Well I'll see you all next week and please I love hearing what you all think about the story. I'm glad I can provide some gross fluff amongst all the angsty hurt/comfort fics out there. Til I write some of my own anyway.


	6. Heading Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adora hugged Catra and picked her bodily up off the ground. “ALL OF IT IS TRUE.” She began walking towards the car carrying Catra and all their things. “I WILL ACCEPT NO SLIGHTS ON HER HONOR.”
> 
> “ADORA!” Catra squealed. “PUT ME DOWN!”

"What are you going to do with that?"

"Abandoning it here. It's heavy as shit and I don't want to deal with it."

“I could carry it.”

“I know.”

“You don’t want it?”

Catra just gave her an incredulous look.

“You bought it didn’t you?”

“You have a fridge Adora, a real one not a beat to shit mini-fridge.”

The mini-fridge in question had clearly been passed around through many hands. It was dented, scratched, stickered, bedazzled, had some of the bedazzling chiseled off but apparently given up on halfway, and painted, three times it looked like, none of which flattered it. Underneath the abuse the fake wood paneling on the fridge door was still visible in some places. Clearly whoever had owned it didn’t want to go through the effort of taking it with them and had just pawned it off on some incoming Freshman. This cycle had clearly repeated itself over and over for years. It was happening again now, though Catra wasn’t even bothering to sell it.

"It still works though?" She asked somewhat sceptically despite the low hum of it's fan.

The corner of Catra's mouth quirked up. "Like a charm." She grinned fully. “It would be a shame to put this veteran next to the modern fridge in your apartment, it still has decades of shitty college beer to keep cold.”

Adora snorted. "You sure it doesn't deserve a funeral pyre instead?"

Catra chuckled this time. "The fumes would kill us. Nah just leave it."

Adora shrugged, it did look heavy.

They grab the last few bundles of Catra’s things and carried them down out of the dorm to Glimmer’s pickup. Glimmer was one of the few with their own car on campus. A true veteran the truck was an ex-farm vehicle she had bought on her way into Midland Freshman year. It still ran though it complained loudly whenever forced to do so. She had agreed to help them move Catra’s stuff the few blocks up to Adora’s, now their, apartment.

“That’s everything?” She asked, opening the cab to her truck.

Catra tossed the bundle of things into the bed of the truck and then climbed in after it. “Yep, thanks for the ride Sparkles.”

Adora caught the slight eye roll from Glimmer but on seeing Adora’s slight smile she just shrugged and got in the truck. Adora climbed in back with Catra and they rumbled off arriving at their apartment shortly where they began unloading the relatively few things Catra brought with her. Between the three of them it doesn’t take long and they end up in the living room surrounded by boxes and bundles of stuff.

“Alright well I’ll let you two settle in, and you won’t be at the bonfire this weekend right?” Glimmer asked at the door.

“Yep Catra is coming home with me for the weekend.” Adora nodded. “Thanks for helping us move Glim.”

Glimmer shrugged. “It’s the least I can do, don’t have too much fun now.”

Adora blushed as she left but couldn’t really complain, they hadn’t exactly hid their  _ escapades  _ during the camping trip and they had been teased relentlessly after everyone had heard Catra’s screaming the second night.

Adora sighed and looked over to Catra. “I guess we're never going to escape that huh?”

“Look maybe if you weren’t so good in bed I wouldn’t scream so much.” Catra replied confident and self assured, as though that weren’t a ridiculous statement.

She couldn’t hold a straight face for long though and her smirk spread into a grin.

Adora just shook her head. Reaching into her pocket she pulled out a key, shiny and silver and new. She handed it to Catra. “There, now we’re official.”

Catra held the key, a smile splitting her face, her eyes came up and met her own shiny and filled with tears. Adora wrapped her in a hug feeling the hot happy tears on her neck.

“I can’t believe this is all really happening, I keep thinking I’ll wake up and it will all be a dream.”

Adora squeezed her tighter.

“Even if you did I would still be there with you.” She held on for a long moment before backing off holding Catra’s shoulders. “Come on let's get you unpacked.”

They spent the rest of the day unpacking Catra’s things and trying to find places for all of them. Catra hadn’t had much, the dorms in Krampt prevented it and Catra’s natural tendency not to accumulate clutter meant it wasn’t too hard to find room for her things.

Catra tossed the last cardboard box down the hall into the pile with the rest and Adora let herself fall back onto the bed.

“We’re done! You’re moved in!” She shouted into the hall.

“I’m moved in!” Catra’s head appeared in the doorway. “With my mate!”

Adora smiled and held her arms out, Catra pounced on her and they rolled on the bed giggling. 

“Ok ok let’s get to bed we have class tomorrow.” Adora held Catra against her chest keeping her from continuing to tickle her.

Catra sighed dramatically. “Ok fine.”

They changed into pajamas and turned off the lights before settling back into bed together. Adora pulled Catra against her burying her face into her neck and breathing deep of her rich calming scent. Catra settled in with a sigh against her hands twining together and legs tangling they drifted off together.

* * *

“Hey Adora!” She turned and found Mermista jogging up to her. “Whoa what happened to you? You lose a fight with a pack of vampires or something?"

Adora had purposely worn a regular long sleeve shirt rather than one of her usual compression shirts to show off the numerous marks on her neck. She wanted people to know she was taken.

“Catra and I kinda made it official.” She smiled. “We’re together now uh mates.” She finished blushing a little at the still unfamiliar words.

“Well glad to see you’re making the most of it.” She raised an eyebrow but committed no more emotion than that. “Anyway Reese wanted me to get this to you or Catra whichever I saw first so here you go.”

Mermista handed her a thick sealed envelope with Catra’s name on it.

“Do you know what it is?” Adora asked curiously.

“Not a clue.”

“Well I’m going to meet Catra for lunch right now, want to join us?” she asked slowly unsure of Mermista's plans or level of desire to third wheel.

"I'll come say hi but I'm meeting Hawk." 

Adora nodded and they walked through the student center together with Adora scanning for the unruly mop of hair she was looking for.

“HEY ADORA.” 

Looking up she found Catra looking down at her from the seating on the second floor with a smirk on her face.

They made their way up the stairs and found Catra lounging back in one of the hard cafeteria chairs. Adora placed a kiss on her forehead and sat down across from her while Mermista stood at the end of the table.

“Well give her the thing, I’m curious.” She said unable to quite maintain her uninterested deadpan.

“Thing?” Catra asked, eyebrow cocked. 

Adora handed her the envelope. “This is from Reese, apparently.”

Catra took the envelope and looked at the two staring at her expectantly. "What?"

"Come on I've been carrying it around all morning the suspense is  _ killing me. _ " Mermista moaned her usually expressionless face making an exaggerated mask of agony.

"I am curious to see what Reese got up to…" Adora added less dramatically.

Catra rolled her eyes and sliced open the envelope with a claw. Pulling out the papers a few moments of tense silence followed while she skimmed over them.

"It's a special exemption… I can finish my science class online so I can attend practice, and… wow and an allowance from the school to purchase equipment." Catra finished as she skimmed over the documents.

Mermista grinned crookedly. “That’s just like Reese, she knows how to work the system to get what she wants, you really must have impressed her.”

“I guess so…” Catra said quietly. As she shuffled the papers a thick patch fell out of them. A jacket patch for the school's HEMA team, crossed swords over a shield and the latin phrase ‘Alteri fides in unum’. Almost reverently Catra picked up the patch and examined it.

Adora and Mermista shared a smile.

“I don’t even have a jacket to put it on.” She said, still looking at the patch and rubbing her thumb over it gently. “I’ve never been on a sports team like this.”

“What size are you?” Mermista asked, her phone out and thumb poised.

“Medium.” She answered almost automatically, still caught up. “”What does the latin mean? Alteri fides in unum.”

“Faith in one another.” Adora answered with a small smile. “We’ll have to stop at the store to get gear ordered for you, should be ready by the time we get back then. What kinda allowance did Reese get you?”

Catra turned the check around and Adora choked on her tongue.

“Do you think she has like, blackmail on people or is she just like,  _ that  _ good at bureaucracy?” Mermista drawled.

“I don’t  _ think  _ it’s blackmail.” Adora said, smiling slightly once she recovered. “But I’ve never asked her for the details. I just know she’s good at this sort of thing, she is a business major though, and her family has a long history of government work, so bureaucracy is in her blood.”

“Wait, why did you want my size?” Catra asked as the seeming non-sequitur from earlier caught up to her.

“Oh my dear MERMISTA!”

“There he is, perfect timing as usual.” Mermista’s voice dripped with almost casual disdain, but there was a faint smile on her face.

“Hello Sea Hawk.” Adora said smiling as he walked up with a varsity jacket hung over his arm.

"Sea Hawk?" Catra asked.

"Conrad Sebastien Hawkthorn, C-Hawk." Adora explained.

He smiled broadly. "And here I thought it was my nautical skill and piratical charm!"

"The last 'vessel' you were on was a swan boat from the tunnel of love, alone I may add, and you somehow lit it on fire."

Adora snorted remembering the incident.

Hawk shot her a wounded expression. "I make no excuses for expressing my love."

"Well it certainly was memorable if that's what you were going for." Mermista replied, the slightest hint of a smile on her face. "Now if you're done?" She gestured to Catra expectantly.

He stroked his mustache and then with entirely too much drama, graciously presented the jacket to Catra. “I believe this is for you my lady.”

Catra boggled at him and Mermista.

“I asked him to get it for you but I paid for it so don’t worry about it, welcome to the team.” Mermista cracked a rare genuine smile and pulled out the chair next to Adora sitting down with a thump.

Catra took the jacket and held it up so she could look at it.

"Wait does that mean Hawk has your card?" Adora asked quietly.

"Wouldn't make a very good delivery boy without it." She replied grinning at Hawk.

He assumed a wounded expression. "I prefer the term rum runner but whatever my princess wishes."

"One time and I never hear the end of it." Mermista muttered under her breath.

Those two had a strange dynamic, but they had been ‘together’ for a long time, and it was a show of trust that Mermista let Sea Hawk walk around with her card. She supposed her and Catra had little room to talk for strange dynamics in any case.

“You’ll have to earn some kinda nickname now, no one puts their real name on the jacket.” Sea Hawk beamed probably more excited by the concept than Catra was.

Mermista’s jacket said ‘Dread Pirate’ on the back, a nickname she had gained after a team viewing of The Princess Bride due to the fact she used a rapier and deadpan humor just like Westley.

Adora’s said ‘She-Ra’, a nickname she had gained for winning a match point by cowing her opponent with a battlecry.

“Well try it on!” Adora urged grinning.

Catra got up and swung the jacket around her shoulders, like all letterman jackets it looked just a little too large, but that was part of the appeal in Adora’s opinion. “You look great.”

“Let me pay you back for it. These things aren’t cheap.” She tried turning to Mermista, a blush on her cheeks from Adora’s staring.

Mermista waved her off. “I’ve got the money, let me do some good with it.”

Catra sighed slightly and sat back down tugging at the end of the sleeves which were a little long (as they should be). Adora was very pleased with Catra in the slightly oversized letterman jacket even if it was a cliched look. Moreover she knew it was something Catra had wanted, to belong to a team officially, obviously something she couldn’t have done at Helmand.

“Well are we going to just ogle our partners or are we going to eat something? Because I am starving.” Mermista said breaking them free of their reverie.

“Right we were going to get pizza.” Adora said sheepishly, a light blush on her cheeks from being caught ogling her mate.

“Sounds perfect.” She leaned back looking at Hawk.

He leaned over and placed an upside down kiss on her lips. “Of course my dear I will return momentarily.”

He strode off with purpose in his exaggerated step.

“You bought me the jacket please let me at least pay for the pizza.” Catra offered trying to sound casual but Adora knew better. 

Catra hated people buying her things, she always felt like people were pitying her by paying. 

Mermista shrugged it off again. “Please, don’t sweat it, my parents give me more money for college than I know what to do with.” She grinned. “I’m the rich kid you gotta let me throw money at my friends at least.”

“They own a shipping company that runs on the rivers here.” Adora added placing her hand over Catra’s to settle her. “She pays for the whole team's food whenever we go out, I’ve long since given up on trying to stop her.”

Catra still frowned a little but she squeezed her hand back and didn’t press the issue.

“That includes you now so get used to it.” 

* * *

The Spanish Main was the strangest ‘store’ Catra had ever visited. Half of it looked like a normal sporting goods store stocked with a variety of fencing and HEMA equipment among others clearly biased towards Midland’s tendency to favor martial sports but not entirely unusual. The other half of the store more closely resembled a medieval forge. Flagstone floors and a massive furnace that glowed orange dominated the corner where several people worked wearing thick leather aprons and gloves. Two huge lizard beastmen and three humans worked at the forge.

The sword came out of the heart of the furnace glowing white hot and the larger of the two lizards set it on the anvil and began pounding with an enormous hammer filling the room with the ringing of steel. The other lizard noticed them standing there and came over with one of the humans.

He wore a long leather mask to protect his face from the heat with darkened glass lenses to reduce the glare of the furnace. He pulled the mask off as did the human who was dwarfed by the huge lizard beside him.

“Hey Rogelio, hey Kyle.” Adora greeted the two.

“What brings you here?” Kyle asked his eyes looking at Rogelio who signed a few things at him.

“We need a full set of HEMA gear for Catra.”

Catra was swept up by the big blacksmith and attacked with measuring tapes, various material types, colors, and a dazzling array of practice swords and shields. In the end the allowance Reese had gotten her paid for a full custom set of pads, a sword and shield, a spare set of gloves and a spare mask plus bags and maintenance kit as well. Though privately Adora thought they had only stretched it that far because Rogelio gave them a frequent customer discount.

While Kyle was double checking some final measurements Adora pulled Rogelio aside.

“Can you keep her measurements on hand? I might have another order for her in the near future and I want it to be a surprise.”

He winked at her and gave her an OK sign scribbling something on the notepad in his hand before they returned. 

“How long will it take to make?” Catra asked with eager excitement in her mismatched eyes.

Rogelio held up four fingers then tilted his hand left and right. About four days give or take.

“You should be able to have it before next practice day then.” Adora looked forward to seeing Catra in gear that fit her properly.

Catra nodded. “I’ll have to thank Reese, I can’t believe she managed all this.”

Adora looked at her phone and paled slightly. “Alright great we’re all set?” She asked Rogelio who gave her a thumbs up. “We’ve got to be at the station in fifteen minutes!”

They ran for the door shouting goodbyes over their shoulder.

* * *

The best way to travel from Midland to Thurgood was by train, at the station there Adora’s older sister would pick them up and take them the rest of the way.

Catra watched the countryside roll by out the window, the constant ta-chunk ta-chunk, of the train, a soothing background noise. She had her legs across Adora's lap so she could relax against the window and watch the scenery. It was interesting for her, it had been a long time since she was last on a train and it was a novel experience. Besides she enjoyed the casual intimacy with Adora.

"Hello dears are these seats open?" Catra glanced up and found a tottering old lady standing outside their box and gesturing to the bench across from them.

"Oh yeah, go ahead." Adora offered immediately patting her leg to get her to sit up.

"Oh don't you move dear." She waved Catra down and took the seat across from them. "No I dare say mine would be just the same if his back would let him." She chuckled. "I see you two are freshly mated." She tapped at her neck where a faint scar was visible.

Catra blushed slightly but her hand came up to feel at the still healing mark on her own neck. 

"Yeah it's uh, new for us, we're going home to meet my family." Adora said blushing slightly.

"Oh you girls must be going to the University in Midland then."

They both nodded. "That's where we met." 

"Aww I'm happy for you dears. Ah and here's mine."

A wizened old Magikat lumbered up, gray fur tufted ears and heavy bushy brows. "You decided you had to bother these two instead of finding another seat?" He rumbled in an amicable tone that Adora easily recognized as teasing.

He shuffled in and sat down and looked them over. "Oh I see why you sat here. Look at them I’m sure if this booth had curtains they’d be all over each other but you had to come in here and bother them.”

They both blushed but also didn’t attempt to refute the statement either. 

The woman slapped affectionately at the old magikat’s arm. “Oh dear stop you’re embarrassing them.”

He chuckled good naturedly. “You decided to sit here knowing who I am dear.”

She sighed. 

The old couple were good companions, they shared stories from how they met and fell in love while Catra and Adora listened. It was obvious that they loved each other and their affection warmed her heart. They stayed with them for only a little while before they got off at their stop with pleasant goodbyes.

“Do you think we’ll end up like them?” Adora asked, rubbing her leg which was still in her lap.

“I hope so, I think I would like that.” She could see herself doing something just like the old couple had with Adora far away down the line. “If you think you can stand me for that long.”

Adora had a far away look on her face clearly thinking along the same lines Catra had been. She smiled slightly though and squeezed her hand around her calf affectionately.

“I think I can manage that.”

* * *

Adora’s sister, Saddie, was nothing at all like Adora. She had long black hair, darker skin, and green eyes

Catra looked sidelong at Adora and then over at her supposed sister. “Are you sure you’re related?”

Adora rolled her eyes. “It’s cause I’m a mutant, I don’t resemble any of my siblings.”

Catra made an ‘oh’ shape with her mouth and leaned over and kissed Adora on the cheek. “I think you’re beautiful.” She chuckled. “My mutant mate.”

Adora smiled and looked at her sister. “Saddie, this is my mate Catra. Catra this is my older sister Saddie.”

Saddie smiled and looked over Catra with a critical eye that was just a bit too exaggerated to be taken seriously. “It’s nice to finally meet you, I’ve heard a fair bit about you from Adora.”

“I thought you wanted them to like me?” Catra replied with a lazy smile, it was low hanging fruit but she had to.

“Don’t worry she hasn’t told me anything incriminating, just a lot about how pretty and strong and talented this ‘Catra’ girl is, really she won’t shut up about it.” She smiled. “Interested to find out how much of it is true.”

Adora hugged Catra and picked her bodily up off the ground. “ALL OF IT IS TRUE.” She began walking towards the car carrying Catra and all their things. “I WILL ACCEPT NO SLIGHTS ON HER HONOR.”

“ADORA!” Catra squealed. “PUT ME DOWN!” 

Adora fell into the back of the car collapsing them into a tangled heap of limbs and duffle bags.

“ADORA.” She just laughed.

After a moment they managed to untangle themselves and actually get into the seats all the while Saddie was laughing at them.

They chatted amicably during the short drive from the train station to the Grayskull household, simple things like how school was going, what she was majoring in and that kind of thing. Stuff she was sure she would repeat a couple more times to others of Adora’s family. 

The house was quite large, not quite a mansion or anything egregious like that but clearly they were wealthy. Saddie led them inside and moved towards the back.

“Everyone is out in the backyard, come on out once you’ve dropped your stuff off.”

“Come on I’m upstairs.” Catra followed her up the staircase and down a soft carpeted hall into a corner room.

A large bed dominated the corner of the room, posters hung on the walls of a few bands she knew Adora liked alongside a movie poster or two, a desk, dresser, and nightstand rounded out the normal things you would expect. A stand stood covered in armor, the suit Adora mentioned she used for the Renaissance Festival, plate mail, leather and chainmail hung from the stand or sat on the desk next to it. Leaned against the desk in a scabbard of black leather was a two handed sword almost as long as Catra was tall.

She set her bag down next to the bed and wandered over to the armor stand. “This is really something.”

“I’ll have to put it on and show you, it takes a bit of effort but I love wearing it.” Adora walked over and picked up the sword, with a flourish she drew the blade out and held it before her. Light flashed off the polished steel as she moved the blade holding the monstrous thing in one hand like it weighed nothing at all.

Her eyes sparkled with joy as she regarded the blade. “I can’t wait to go to the Ren Faire with you.”

Adora sheathed the sword and set it back down, Catra pulled her towards her resting her head against Adora’s shoulder. “You’re so beautiful when you’re happy.”

“And you make me happy.” Adora kissed her warmly, soft and slow before pulling back. “Come on, let's go out back and introduce you to everyone, we can enjoy my room.” She glanced meaningfully at the bed. “Tonight.”

Catra pressed a kiss to her cheek and pulled herself out of Adora’s warm embrace. “I’ll hold you to that.”

They made their way back downstairs and out through the sliding glass doors to the back yard. There were a dozen or so people out back and Catra assumed some were probably neighbors or friends, and a half dozen small children that must be cousins or neighbor kids. A large grill had three older men standing around it and Catra assumed one was Adora’s father though having mentioned that she did not resemble any of her family members she couldn't guess which one.

A slightly plump woman with shoulder length brown hair hurried over and Adora accepted her hug.

“Hey Mom.” She backed out of the hug and looked at her. “This is Catra, my mate.”

“Oh it’s so nice to finally meet you.” She crushed Catra in what would have been a strong hug if she wasn’t a long time veteran of Scorpia’s.

“Nice to meet you too Mrs.Grayskull.” Catra replied a little awkwardly, this was not something she had a lot of experience with.

“Adora has never brought one of her dates home before so this is exciting.” 

“We’re passed dating, we’re mated Mom, I told you that.” Adora quickly corrected.

“Well how come I never heard about you dating then?”

“Because we didn’t, kinda skipped it.” Adora replied a little less confidently. They had both agreed not to disclose exactly that they were friends with benefits before coming together, but that meant there was some awkward deflecting in their future.

“Well you certainly haven’t brought any of those home before either.”

“I never had a mate before Catra.” Adora rolled her eyes. “I told you mom, Cat’s different.”

“Well bringing her home certainly is different. I was so surprised when she told me she was going to ask you to move in with her. I had no idea it would lead to this!”

Adora gave a look that said.  _ Neither did I. _

“Yeah I’m glad I met Adora, I don’t know what I would do without her at this point.” Catra said honestly. 

“I’m glad you two are happy, Your father is at the grill and the food should be ready soon. I hope your… mate can match your appetite.” She corrected herself and Catra caught the small smile Adora gave her mother.

“She can.” Adora assured.

“And we’ll take all the leftovers you have.” Catra added. As college students, leftovers were worth their weight in gold, especially home made.

Adora’s father was a tall dark haired man who looked every bit the kind upper class father that he was. With a plaid sweater vest and all.

“Good to meet you Catra, you’ve made quite the impression on Adora here and that doesn’t happen often.”

“Well she’s returned the favor, I don’t know what I’d do without her.” Catra replied again honestly.

“Come on Cat you would be ok without me.”

“Maybe.” She shrugged and looked up at Adora locking their eyes together. “But I wouldn’t be  _ happy. _ ”

Adora smiled softly and wrapped her in a hug. “Good thing I’m not going anywhere then I don’t think I could stand seeing you sad.”

“Alright alright take the sweetness away from the food please I’m trying to make dinner not dessert.”

They retreated in the face of his dad jokes and meandered over to the campfire where a number of people were sitting and chatting while the food cooked. Adora sat down and Catra plopped down sideways in her lap, Adora’s hands automatically moving to idly touch her. One hand rubbing the back of her neck and the other resting on her knee.

Some more introductions were made to neighbors, cousins, aunts and uncles. As expected she had to repeat herself a lot as new people wandered over but it was pleasant no one made a fuss that she was a Magikat, no one gave them sour looks for being close, most everyone was kind which Catra wasn’t overly surprised by given Adora’s personality and they way she talked about her family.

“Is that tail real?” A young boy asked, wandering up to them. Catra thought he was a young cousin but she couldn’t remember.

“Yep.” She replied, wagging her tail at him.

“Wow I’ve never seen someone with a tail and ears like you!” The boy said eyes full of wonder.

Adora shifted her into a sitting position and scooted out from under her. “Drink?” She asked.

Catra nodded and they shared a quick kiss before Adora moved off leaving Catra with her new admirer.

She walked around into the garage digging into one of the drink coolers looking for cider when she overheard two people talking.

“A Magikat, can you believe it? That’s the last thing I would have expected from her.” Adora felt a vein on her temple throb as anger flooded her veins. She turned towards the voice, a neighbor talking with one of her uncles.

“And they did that bite thing.” He made a face. “Barbaric.”

Her uncle for his part just frowned at the man but he didn’t seem to catch the message.

He opened his mouth again.

“I suggest you think very carefully about what you are about to say.” Adora said low and even.

His eyes snapped to her. “It’s what they are, that’s just a fact.”

“I suggest you leave before you say something you’ll regret, you are insulting the love of my life with your stupidity and I’m not going to allow it to continue. She’s faced more than enough hardship getting to where she is today and I will do everything in my power to protect her from more.” She glared daggers at him. “Up to and including throwing you bodily into the street.”

She stood tall and straight letting her powerful form do as much talking as her mouth had.

He looked to her uncle who had his arms crossed and a scowl on his face. “You heard her.”

He made a hasty retreat and Adora watched him all the way to the gate.

“She’s lucky to have you.” 

Adora turned to her uncle who had a satisfied smile on his face. “No, I’m lucky to have her.”

His grin widened slightly and he nodded to her.

When she returned she found Catra surrounded by small children retelling one of her HEMA battles with  _ egregious  _ embellishment. The unrestrained joy on her face melted the frost that had formed on her heart and she was able to walk over to her without making Catra suspicious, she had an uncanny knack for reading her mood and Adora had stopped trying to mask her emotions around her.

She sat down in Catra’s lap this time before handing her the cider.

“Here she is my knight in shining armor bringing me gifts!” Catra proclaimed ending her story with a flourish.

“Anything for my princess.” Adora mocked.

She took Catra by the chin and guided her into a quick kiss to a chorus of. “EW GROSS!” from the small children.

They scattered giggling madly.

“We’ve scared them off with our gross display of affection.” Catra drawled.

“So be it.” Adora pulled her back in for a deeper kiss.

The rest of the night went smoothly, the food was delicious and they spent the remainder sitting by the fire together and chatting with whoever passed by. It was nice to be home with Catra, she felt so relaxed just sitting by the fire with Catra in her lap occasionally her hand would come up and stroke the back of Catra’s neck until she purred. Most of the guests had left by this point and the hour was waning.

“You ready?” Adora asked petting Catra’s leg.

“Mhmmm.” She made no move to get up and Adora simply picked her up bridal style and carried her inside and upstairs and into her room. 

She closed the door, and locked it behind her.

* * *

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There we go another chapter on time! I'm more or less done with the meat of this story but I want to make myself write and write on time so I'm going to keep writing fluff as long as yall are willing to read it. I still have plenty of things in mind for the future so we'll keep going but I am working on other stuff on the side that is more substantial work. I love hearing what you guys think of the story and I'll see you all next week.


	7. My Mutant Mate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “We started as friends with benefits.” She said simply and he nodded slightly.
> 
> “That explains a few things, so she was your booty call?” He teased lightly.
> 
> She laughed. “No definitely not, I was her booty call.”
> 
> He snorted. “That is far more believable than the alternative.”
> 
> She glared at him without much heat.

Adora woke slowly to a tickle on her face.

She huffed and scrunched her nose before relaxing, and then it happened again. Reluctantly she opened her eyes Catra’s head was under her chin and her breathing was ruffling Catra’s ears which flicked and tickled her face. She smiled her irritation evaporating and kissed Catra on the cheek before slowly untangling herself and getting up.

Catra made a few quiet noises of protest but calmed down when Adora tucked her back in. “Come down whenever you’re ready.”

“Mmmm why don’t you just stay here?” She mumbled hazily.

Adora smiled and kissed her on the cheek again. She debated whether or not to shower immediately but decided against it, she wanted to shower with Catra. Something they had found enjoyable after getting in together because they were in a hurry and wanted to save time to make it to class. They had ended up twenty minutes late though neither of them were that upset by it.

Instead she threw on some pajamas and headed downstairs. Unsurprisingly, her father was the only other person up and about, he was in the kitchen sipping on his coffee fully dressed even though he wasn’t working, when she came in and started preparing her own.

“Sleep well?” He asked.

“Yeah.” She smiled slightly. “Once we got around to sleeping anyway.”

He smiled in return. “So give me the undiluted version, you’ve never been like this with anyone before.”

Adora had been expecting this, she was on a different level of comfort with her dad than her mother. He understood her a little better in part because of the quirk of her anatomy so she had always gone to him for some things. Especially relationship stuff.

“We started as friends with benefits.” She said simply and he nodded slightly.

“That explains a few things, so she was your booty call?” He teased lightly.

She laughed. “No definitely not, I was _her_ booty call.”

He snorted. “That is far more believable than the alternative.”

She glared at him without much heat.

“That’s how it started, after that we just hung out. It was easy to be with her and she didn’t make a big deal out of… me. We were friends and we went down on each other sometimes.” She shrugged. “I guess from the outside it might have looked like we were together. Bow and Tweek definitely figured it out before we did.” She shook her head. “We did figure it out in the end but by that point well…” She rubbed at the scar on her neck. “We were a bit past dating, you date to get to know someone but Catra and I already knew each other. So we kinda just skipped ahead” She leaned back against the counter and folded her arms across her chest. “I had already planned on inviting her to move in with me before we got together.” She frowned. “Before we were _officially_ together. For… other easons.”

He cocked an eyebrow at her. “Other reasons?”

“She went to Helmand before transferring to Midland a few months before Helmand closed down, her family couldn’t afford to send her to Midland forfour years so she worked her ass off at Helmand and got all the transfer credits she could in two years.” She frowned. “Helmand was a bad school and it left some scars on her, they were going to force a roommate into the dorm with her and it was really getting to her, bringing up a lot of bad memories. Her roommate at Helmand was a real piece of work and she was afraid she would get another one like her.”

He nodded grimly. “All that anguish over money.” He shook his head. “I worked hard so that you and your sibling wouldn’t have to go through something like that but every day I am reminded that there are still so many out there who can’t do what I did for you.” He took a deep breath. “I am glad she has found some happiness with you.”

Adora nodded. “I would do anything for her.”

He looked at the determination on her face and he knew she meant it, there was precious little she could do though on the grander scale for Catra and her family. “What does her family do?”

“They own a little farm out in Selene. We’re going there next week to celebrate her mom’s birthday.” She replied, softening as the darker thoughts drifted away.

He nodded thinking to himself. “Hmm well you two seem to be happy so I suppose it worked out. That's all you can hope for in the end.” He put his hands on her shoulders squeezing gently. “If she makes you happy it doesn’t matter how you met or what happened before, I’ll try and stop your mother from asking awkward questions, lord knows she wouldn’t understand how you two got together.”

She smiled. “Yeah, thanks dad.”

They had a quick hug and then the coffee pot beeped and Adora turned pouring two cups and doctoring both to their different tastes. Neither of them took it black but Catra liked cream in hers while Adora stuck to just sugar. As soon as she finished preparing them Catra meandered into the kitchen wearing one of Adora’s shirts. Something she must have done on purpose because they had certainly brought clean clothes.

“Perfect timing.” Adora said, handing her a cup.

Catra smiled, wrapped her hands around the warm cup, took a sip, and laid her head down on Adora’s shoulder. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Her father smiled at her and raised his coffee slightly in salute before quietly excusing himself from the kitchen. Gently Adora maneuvered Catra into a chair at the table and started making breakfast while Catra drank her coffee. By the time Catra had drunk most of it and more or less woken up, Adora had finished bacon, eggs, and hashbrowns for the two of them.

“So we shower.” Catra waggled her eyebrows suggestively at her. “And then you can help me put my armor on and we can go take some photos out back, then I dunno we could practice a bit, there’s plenty of spare gear here. The only thing I have to do today is a doctors appointment at two.”

Catra raised an eyebrow. “Appointment?”

"Yeah, I go in regularly so they can keep studying my whole medical situation." Adora gestured vaguely at her crotch.

“So you’re some kind of lab rat for them?” Catra responded scowling with indignant rage.

Adora held up her hands placating. "No, no, not like that! Well, it was with the doctors I saw as a kid, but... Dr. Netossa's way better. Cat, my body is different and I have, and probably will continue to need special care. She keeps tabs on my health to watch out for any problems, and I offered to let her study me to help anyone with the same condition in the future.”

Catra calmed down, though her tail was still raised defensively.

“I do want to ask them about uh us? I want to make sure there isn’t anything we should worry about.” Adora felt her face growing hot. “You know interspecies relation stuff.”

“Xeno-phil-ia'' Catra said, enunciating each syllable carefully. “Are you gunna tell em’ you like it when I rake my claws down your back? Or how rough my tongue is?” Her tail curled around Adora’s ankle under the table and she raised a suggestive eyebrow. _Or this?_

“No I am not going to tell them that!” Adora squeaked.

Catra laughed. “It’s so easy to fluster you, and you’re so cute with your face all red.”

Adora glared at her but it just made her laugh. “Come on you need a cold shower.” She said getting up.

“I will not! If you dare turn it down you will shower alone!” Catra followed her upstairs back to her room.

Adora did not shower alone.

Hot water poured down Adora’s back as she pressed Catra against the tile one hand cupping her face the other on her thigh helping her wrap her legs around her waist.

“Catra.” She whispered into her lips as they broke their kiss to pull in steamy air.

Catra’s lips skinned back into a broad lustful smile. “Come on and finish me.”

Adora’s mouth slid down pressing kisses along her jaw on her way to the crook of her neck where she kissed and nipped at the flesh there. Her hips rocking and slamming them together hard enough to make a loud wet slap drowned out by the shower. Catra wrapped her arms around Adora’s shoulders and pulled her in tight as she felt the pressure building in her. She held on as long as she could teetering on the edge drawing it out into exquisite agony before she let herself fall. A strangled cry tearing out of her throat as she gripped Adora tight, lightning exploded behind her eyes. Adora continued thrusting through her orgasm breathing hard as she too held back as long as she could before she could take no more and buried herself deep. Catra could feel each throb of her member pumping seed into her, the pool of warmth in her belly growing until Adora relaxed. Slowly she lowered them both to the floor and let the hot water pour over them while they pulled themselves together.

They recovered and washed up quickly already having spent too long in the shower. In addition to the fact that being close, naked, and warm always carried the risk of starting another round.

Fresh and clean they stood in Adora’s room with the various pieces of the armor laid out around them.

“I had no idea there were so many parts!” Catra said looking at the array of cloth, leather, chain, and plate pieces.

“It weighs forty pounds all together, I’ll tell you what to grab and you can help me put it on.”

It took a while since Catra was unfamiliar with it all but with Adora’s instruction she helped get it all on. Plates, chainmail, leather and cloth covered Adora from head to toe, gauntlets, greaves, couters, pauldrons, tassets, culet, gambeson, hauberk, breastplate, backplate and more that Catra couldn’t even keep track of. Fully suited Adora struck an imposing figure, the armor shone brightly and made her already impressive figure look even larger. She wore it easily as well, clearly familiar with how to move despite the floorboards creaking under her weight and the clank of plates every time she moved. She topped it off with a fabric coif that acted as padding for the armet style helmet. Catra didn’t quite know what that meant but it looked like a classic knight helmet to her, a sharp angular faceplate with narrow vision slits.

“Wow, you look incredible.” 

Adora pushed up the faceplate and smiled at her. “Come on let's head out back before I break through the floorboards.”

They marched down and out into the back where the house butted against the edge of a small piece of forested land. A perfect place to take some pictures of Adora in her armor to show off to her friends and family.

She took a lot of silly pictures, one of Adora praising the sun, a close up of her helmeted head with a thumbs up, one of Adora chasing her.

She got a few really good ones too, of Adora standing on the forest's edge looking stoic, a few of her in action swinging her sword around. 

Her favorite though was one they took near the end of their time. Adora sitting down against a tree with her sword leaned against it next to her and her helmet on the ground beside her with Catra leaned against her side. She had had to get creative with the timer and jam her phone into a tree to get the picture but it had been worth it.

“We look like something out of a fairy tale.” Catra said looking at the picture on her phone.

“I don’t know how else I would get this lucky.” Adora replied with a cheeky smile.

Catra rapped her knuckles against Adora’s chestplate admonishing her. “ _You’re_ the one who’s lucky here?”

“Yep.” Adora said definitively. “Anyone else would call me a nerd and storm off if they saw me like this.”

“You _are_ a huge nerd.” 

“Yeah but you love me for it.” 

Catra’s face softened and she leaned against Adora nuzzling her head against her chin. “I do.”

* * *

Catra posted the image in her group chat with Scorpia and Entrapta.

Catra: My mate is the best and I will accept no arguments to the contrary.

Scorp: You two are so CUUUUTE!

Trapta: I am not equipped to argue for or against this thesis.

She posted another image, this one with Adora bridal carrying her.

Catra: If you dare call me a damsel they will never find your body. 

Scorp: I didn’t say anything.

Adora peered over her shoulder smiling. “Are you going to send the pictures to your family?”

“No.” She snorted. “I can’t see the look on their faces that way, they have no idea what you look like.”

Adora laughed.

* * *

“Alright while they run your blood work we’ll just go over the usual questions alright?” Dr. Netossa examined her clipboard while Adora sat and swung her legs on the end of the bed.

This was all long familiar to her by now, and most of the questions were simple stuff. She hadn’t had any issues, nothing strange that concerned her, her body was fine despite its strangeness.

“How many sexual partners have you had in the last six months?”

“Just one.” Dr. Netossa raised an eyebrow, she had answered ‘none’ last time.

“How often do you have sex?”

“Uh” Adora blushed. “Frequently?”

“Average per week?”

Adora’s blush darkened. “Nine to ten times? Sometimes more… uh usually more.”

_Wait that’s like an insane amount right? Normal people don’t have sex that much. Holy fuck why do we bang so much?_

Adora’s minor internal panic was interrupted by the doctor.

“And that doesn’t give you any trouble, no tiredness, soreness or difficulty getting erect?” She was smiling slightly amused by Adora’s embarrassment.

“No uh not at all.” _Quite the opposite._

“Interesting, most people would have trouble keeping up that kind of pace.” She made a note. “Would you tell me about your partner? Age, sex, species ect… are they here by chance?”

“Yeah Catra’s in the waiting room. I can see if she wants to come in?” She asked.

“Please do I would like to ask her some questions, if she doesn’t mind, totally voluntary.” She clarified.

Adora nodded and slipped out returning shortly with Catra.

“You want to ask me some questions?” Catra hopped up on the bed next to Adora.

“If you don’t mind, you are the longest term partner Adora has had and may have some observations about her.” She scribbled in her notepad. “You are a Magikat as well which is interesting scientifically speaking, interspecies relations are always worthy of study, doubly so in this case.”

Catra looked at Adora who nodded. “Yeah sure ask away.”

Dr. Netossa collected some basic information first, age, allergies, history of STD’s (none), and that kind of thing.

“Excellent, now do you have any kind of discomfort or pain during sex? Adora is larger than average and Magikat penises are usually smaller than humans as well.”

Adora turned beet red and looked fixedly at a poster on the wall depicting a diagram of the human skull.

“No, none at all.” Catra replied with a grin.

“You’ve never been with a male before?”

“No, only women, I’ve used dildoes before though, Adora wasn’t my first penetration.”

Netossa nodded. “And do you two use condoms?”

“No.” Adora answered. “There’s no need, right? You said I was sterile.”

Netossa coughed slightly. “Not _strictly_ speaking.”

“Are you saying I could have gotten Catra pregnant?” Adora’s voice was a little wavering and Catra felt a shiver shoot up her spine, she couldn’t decide what it was that she felt about that just that it was a lot. Her hand subconsciously went to her stomach.

“You are on contraceptives I assume?” Netossa asked, looking at Catra.

“Y-yeah of course.” All Magikats used birth control, it helped regulate their heat cycles and was borderline necessary for functioning properly in modern society.

“And your last heat was before you met Adora?”

“Yes, my next will be December.”

“Then no, there should be no chance of pregnancy as long as you remain on birth control. Adora isn’t sterile, her semen is incompatible with human eggs but it does carry viable genetic material. Square peg in a round hole if you will.” She flipped through pages on the clipboard looking at previous records. “I don’t believe it was ever tested to see if it was compatible with Magikat DNA, regular humans are not, but in this case we cannot say for certain.”

“Wait humans and Magikats are incompatible?” Catra asked.

“Yes, most species are not cross compatible, but it’s not often talked about since you should wear a condom anyway to avoid STDs. The actual interconnection between various species is fairly complex and I am not surprised you were both simply taught to use a condom.”

“I uh… I never looked into it, I thought it wouldn’t matter either way for me.” Adora admitted sheepishly. “I just assumed.”

Catra just shrugged at her, she’d had no idea.

“I’ll have the lab do some testing and will contact you as soon as I have results, until then as long as you continue with birth control there should be no issue. Are you planning on having Adora help you with your next heat?”

“Yeah, I was hoping so.” Catra replied now sheepish herself. They had talked about it a little but hadn’t discussed it in detail since it was still more than a month away.

“It certainly is healthier to have a partner, I will recommend you take the extra strength heat contraceptives during it, but beyond that there should be no issue, Magikat contraceptives have had a lot more work done on them for obvious reasons. The unintended pregnancy rate for Magikats on contraceptives is less than one in a million so I would not waste any time worrying about it. We should have the test results back before December in any case so you’ll know for certain.”

“Should I wear a condom for her heat? Just in case?” Adora asked.

“It wouldn’t help Catra very much if you did, Magikat heat is alleviated by the presence semen in the womb, not just the act of intercourse, that’s why masturbation is not an effective means of managing it.”

Adora made a soft oh sound turned red and looked away.

A nurse came in and handed Dr. Netossa a sheaf of papers. 

“Ah the test results from the usual tests.” She skimmed over the papers. “Everything looks good here, blood pressure, cholesterol... “ She paused. “Well that is interesting, the only thing of note here is the presence of cathraenone, which is not surprising in retrospect, though I did not know it could be made in humans.”

“What does that mean?” Adora asked weakly as he staggered from one worrisome piece of news to the next.

Catra had a look of concentration on her face like she had heard the term before.

“It’s a pheromone that Magikats produce, or rather mating causes them to produce it. Typically when Magikats mate their bodies begin producing their partners particular strand of cathraenone, this will make them ‘smell’ like the other, a scent mark to tell other Magikats that they are taken. So to another Magikat you will ‘smell’ like Catra, and Catra like you.” She scribbled on the clipboard. “I have never heard of this being recorded in human magikat pairs before though, that’s very interesting.”

“Doctor is that something I should worry about?” Adora sked slightly exasperated by the doctor's scientific zeal.

“No I don’t think so, all your vitals are perfectly healthy, you have actually improved in several respects since your last visit and I suspect the sex is part of it.”

“Really?” They asked in unison.

“Oh yes, sex releases all kinds of chemicals that help regulate both mental and physical health in addition to being a good workout in and of itself.” She nodded decisively. “Yes I have no recommendations to change the way you two have been behaving for any reason, it seems to be having a positive affect on your health, and the risk of pregnancy, if there is one, should be completely mitigated by birth control.”

* * *

“You know, I… I don’t think I would have been upset if she told me I was pregnant.”

Adora turned and looked at her.

“It would have messed up college I guess but, I think I would still be more excited than irritated.” Catra admitted slowly. “You are my mate after all I…” She stopped but rallied herself and made herself say it. “I would have a child with you.”

“Cat…” Adora pulled her in holding her close and pressing her face into her hair.

"I was worried I might have gotten you pregnant without knowing… I would have felt terrible if I had done that after telling you I was sterile." Catra rubbed circles over her back in slow soothing motions.

"It wouldn't have been your fault that the doctor didn't give you the right information."

“I would still feel like it was my fault, and I just, I don’t know what I would have done if it had ended up that I forced you to make that choice.” Adora rubbed her hands up and down Catra’s back.

Catra squeezed her tight. “It doesn’t matter, I’m not pregnant and we don’t even know if it’s actually possible anyway.” She kissed Adora’s neck trying to soothe her anxious mate. “We can talk about that once we actually know.”

Adora took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “You’re right, you’re right, thank you.”

Catra squeezed her tight before backing up to arms length. “Anything for my mate.”

Adora gave her a tired smile.

* * *

They went back to the house and decided to practice until dinner. There was plenty of spare equipment at the house for them to use and Catra was eager to train since she was actually going to be on the team now. She was still learning, it was easy to see Adora was still teaching her rather than actually sparring against her. Acutely aware Adora could decide to win at any moment she wanted, but She thought she was improving quickly. Adora was an excellent teacher and because she was good Catra had to improve rapidly to stand a chance even against her holding back.

“I’m going to get strong like you.” She said as they circled around each other waiting for an opening.

“Oh?” Adora asked, cocking one eyebrow at her.

“Yep, I’ve decided, don’t want anyone thinking I’m some helpless damsel next to you.” She grinned.

Adora smiled. “Mmmm you’d look good with a bit more muscle, and I definitely won’t mind having you work out with me.”

Catra surged forward and attacked Adora with the training sword, Adora matched her blow for blow deflecting every attack she made. Still she had a savage grin on her face as they clashed and Catra matched her, enjoying herself even if Adora could thrash her if she wanted to.

When dinner grew close they went in and showered, rinsing off the sweat and exertion and even managing not to get all over each other in the shower, too tired from their practice and knowing there would be time enough later. They lay on the couch in the living room dozing together while dinner was finished in the kitchen. 

Adora’s father came in and sat across from them.

“How was your appointment?” He asked.

Adora opened her eyes, glanced down to see Catra was awake but also had her eyes closed, the flick of her tail told her that she was listening.

“Good, nothing unusual on any of my tests, apparently regular sex is actually pretty good for you.” Adora chuckled and Catra let out a contented purr prompting Adora to stroke her hair affectionately.

“The doctor did scare me half to death when she mentioned it _might_ be possible for me to impregnate Catra.”

He raised an eyebrow at that. “Really?”

“Yeah, she said they would do some tests and get back to me with the results, so that’s kind of exciting I guess?” Adora shook her head. “I don’t even know what we’ll do if she tells me we’re… viable.”

“We both know your mother would be ecstatic for grandchildren and she certainly isn’t getting them from Adam unless him and his husband decide to adopt.” He seemed to mull that over in his head for a moment. “Possible I suppose. Saddie is bi of course but I think she’s going to end up with Caroline.”

“They’ve been dating for two years and living together for half that time haven’t they?”

“I suppose that seems like an eternity compared to you two.” He grinned at her and Catra laughed deep in her chest.

“Hmmm, well don’t tell Mom until we know.”

“I’m not a fool Adora.” They shared a knowing smile. “Perhaps regardless of the test results we shouldn’t tell her in either case unless you two decide to have kids. In the event it’s possible, I don’t want her encouraging you to have them if you two decide it’s not what you want.”

Adora loved her mother, but she was also very aware of how she could be in regards to that kind of thing.

“Maybe.” She nodded.

He sighed slightly and then brightened. “Well Catra, I hope this isn’t more than you bargained for. My mutant daughter can be a bit much for some!”

Catra opened her eyes and smiled sidelong at him. “Anything less and I would be bored.”

Adora laughed and her father smiled.

* * *

The next morning they stood with their bags packed in the two car garage attached to the house. They had taken the train to Thurgood but were driving Adora’s car back. It had needed some time at the mechanic when Adora was getting ready to leave for the semester and so it had been left behind. Now it was repaired and ready to go, she would need the car for the Renaissance Faire and any other events they might want to visit. Secretly Adora wanted to have it back so they could drive to Catra’s home next week instead of taking the bus as well.

It was an old 2002 Saturn four door in metallic baby blue that Adora had inherited from an aunt with one-hundred and thirteen thousand miles on it. Since then she had cranked it up to two-hundred and twenty-one thousand miles with no major issues. Even the repairs it had just gone through were mostly minor.

Adora patted the old car affectionately and popped the trunk open.

“You know I don’t know what I expected you to have as a car, but this was not it.” Catra teased as they loaded their bags into the trunk. They didn’t all fit, since they now also had Adora’s armor and so some of their luggage ended up in the back seat.

“There’s nothing wrong with my baby!” Adora defended.

“I didn’t say there was, just that it’s not what I expected.” Catra replied carefully neutral.

“She’s old and she’s been through a lot, but I love her.” They climbed into the car which only barely fit Adora’s huge frame. 

The car grumbled to life easily and settled into a healthy sounding rumble. 

“Watch the ceiling, my dad tore the fabric liner out and tried to glue it back in place which didn’t work of course, so the foam up there will get everywhere if you mess with it.”

“Noted.” Catra replied looking up at the age yellowed insulation foam.

Adora rolled down the windows and they waved at her family as they began rolling down the driveway. The weather was perfect for driving with the windows down, though Adora had to correct herself since the air conditioning was one of the things recently repaired.

“I love coming home to visit, but by the end of a few days I am always glad it is just a visit.” Adora said as they cruised away from the house.

Catra laughed. “I can understand that, Matra can get a little insufferable when her mate is home with her, and the twins are… well they’re twelve and they’re twins.” She smiled fondly. “I can’t wait to take you home next week.”

“You want to show me off that badly?” Adora asked, cocking an eyebrow.

“Not just that.” Catra said slowly reaching over and slipping her hand into the one that wasn’t on the wheel. “I want to show you the view from up on the grain silo, I want to show you my little secret place out at the edge of the farm, I want to have sex with you in my bedroom, I want to sit on the roof and watch the sun set with you.”

Adora’s heart warmed and she squeezed Catra’s hand.

“Well first we have to get back to campus.” Adora reached forward without untwining their hands and punched the radio. The car only had a CD player but apparently Adora had it loaded. “So for the next four hours it’s just you, me, and Dave Grohl.”

_Dear God I've sealed my fate_

_Running through hell_

_Heaven can wait_

_Long road to ruin_

_There in your eyes_

_Under the cold streetlights_

_No tomorrow_

_No dead-end in sight_

They only separated their hands to drum on the dashboard singing along to the music.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There we go another chapter done and on time, I hope you all enjoy it! 
> 
> I decided to make Adora's mutation a bit more of a part of the story so there's kind of a little back tracking but that's what happens when you write chapter to chapter without an outline. Also I am not an expert in the field of biology please do not hurt me.
> 
> All your responses last chapter were very encouraging to me, I really felt like I wasn't providing something substantial. But you guys comments were great and I'm glad you're all still enjoying this fluff so I'll keep working on it! I really appreciate all your comments and it was doubly nice to see the support and the fact that yall actually read these notes. That said I am still working on other stuff too, I hope to have a smutty one-shot done today or tomorrow and I have three longer term projects on the board as well. So I want to hear what you all think I can't promise it will change my muse but I'm interested to see which one of the settings are interesting to yall. So I've got plans for a Modern Scientist AU (Inspired by 'As long as we stay together (if we just stay together)'), a medieval arranged marriage AU, and a medieval vampire/witch hunter AU. I haven't the faintest idea of when I'll have anything substantial for any of those ideas written down but I'm working on them in between. 
> 
> Also Adora's car is not made up and is in fact an accurate description of a real vehicle. She's in the shop right now so please make whatever offerings or sacrifices you think will help.
> 
> P.S. I for whatever reason picture the Medic from Team Fortress 2 as Adora's father. I do not know if this will be a curse or blessing upon you but there it is.
> 
> P.P.S "Long road to ruin by the Foo Fighters"


	8. Times between

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “It’s a long drive to Selene, might have to pass the time with a roadjob.” She said smiling sidelong at Adora.
> 
> “I will crash and kill both of us if you do.”
> 
> Catra laughed. “Well I guess you’ll have to pull over and fuck me if I get horny then.”
> 
> “Catra there is not room in this car for that.”
> 
> “Just fuck me on the hood then.” She could tell Adora wanted to give her incredulous look but kept her eyes on the road.

The world narrowed down to the view over the lip of her shield, a horizon bounded by a ridge of steel

She didn’t see her sword, she didn’t need to, she saw her opponent and that was enough. Her sword was an extension of her arm, a thing she felt. It was starting to feel heavy. Her opponent's sword came at her and she guided it away with her shield, her own blade coming out and flashing towards her target exploiting the opening of their attack. They danced away and then the sword was back coming at her with incredible speed. Her shield was there but before she could answer with her own it was coming at her again, block, block, block.

This wasn’t sustainable. She needed to attack, needed to end this before the end of her endurance, time for a gamble. 

The sword came again and instead of blocking she swung her shield hard batting the blade away. For one moment frozen in time her opponent was open and she lunged.

“Point Catra!”

Her blade had just barely struck Mermista’s bracer, a hit worth a single point, but it was a hit. She had managed to survive and land a hit on one of the team's best duelists.

Mermista crossed an arm over her chest and bowed. It had taken her six rounds, but she had done it. She rested the point of her sword on the ground and pulled her mask off. She was sweating and breathing hard from the exertion. 

Mermista pulled hers off and she only looked mildly winded, bastard.

Adora clapped her on the shoulder. “That was great! Landing a tag on Mermista is no small feat!”

She pulled a rag off her belt and wiped sweat from her brow. “You don’t have to tell me.” She replied with a small smile.

“You’re fast and your fighting style is so different than anyone I’ve ever fought.” Mermista added. “Though you could certainly tighten up your form, if you improve that combined with your speed you will be a truly fearsome opponent.”

Catra nodded. “And my cardio, I can’t keep up with you guys.”

“You never have trouble keeping up with me in bed.” Adora said bumping her hip against Catra.

“Yeah and what does that say about you?” She replied with a wicked smirk.

“Ooooooh.” Mermista called in her monotone voice.

Adora grabbed her by the belt and heaved her up onto her shoulder with one arm. “Sorry Mermista, practice is canceled. I have to go defend my honor.”

Adora carried her all the way over to the benches before setting her down with a laughing mermista following them all the way. 

“You’re lucky I like you, Scorpia always tries that shit on me and I don’t let her get away with it.” Catra sat on the bench with as petulant a look as she could muster. “Scorp is even bigger than you are somehow.”

“She’s moving in with… Entrapta?” Catra nodded. “In a day or two right?”

“Thursday, I haven’t seen them since the last time I was home before the semester started. It’ll be good to see them again, don’t let them know I said that though.”

Adora shook her head and handed Catra a water bottle. Catra nodded in thanks, taking a greedy pull.

Sea Hawk showed up suddenly, he wasn’t on the team but since Mermista was one of the top members, he was often around helping out. 

Mermista called him the team squire much to his dismay.

“Practice is almost over ladies, shall I go ahead and save us a table at The Brick House?” He offered magnanimously.

The Brick House was a fairly popular restaurant occupying a building that had once been a brick factory. It was something of a team tradition to go out and eat together after practice there, though this would be Catra's first time going.

"Do it, we have to fully induct our new member." Reese said walking up and drawing all eyes to her. "Welcome to the team Catra."

Catra took the offered hand, feeling the strong grip once again. "Wouldn't be here without you Reese, thank you, really I don't know how to repay you."

Reese snorted. "Repay me by beating our opponents. Getting you in here was entirely selfish, I saw your potential and knew I wanted you on our roster."

She suspected that it may not have been entirely selfish. It was probably also a favor to Adora. Though she didn't think Adora had asked her to do this.

"I'll do my best." She said with a slight nod.

Reese clapped her on the shoulder. "That's all I can ask. Now let's wrap up and get pizza!"

* * *

Sea Hawk was truly a born performer, something he reminded everyone at every possible moment he could get away with and several he couldn’t. He was currently in the middle of an animated re-enactment of one of Mermista’s duels at the head of the table when the waitress showed up and he was unanimously booed down in favor of the food. He didn’t look to put out sitting next to Mermista with his head leaned on her shoulder though.

The Brick House was really a perfect place for the HEMA team. The large wooden tables and sturdy benches had both the space and strength to handle the team even at its most excited. The high ceiling gave the place a roomy feeling and the brick walls and pillars gave it an almost renaissance feeling. The large group table that the HEMA team got was partially separated from the rest of the dinning room by half walls that had once contained one of several massive kilns. The shell of the old kiln was now used as a fireplace and a blaze merrily crackled there. Apparently the team had a fairly good reputation with the place and this particular table was always saved for them on practice days. They also hosted events for people to gather and watch the team live whenever they were away at tournaments.

Reese stood up and cleared her throat with exaggerated loudness to gather everyone's attention.

“Now I’m sure everyone has met our new member by now.” They all cheered and everyone who could reach her clapped her on the shoulder or otherwise harassed her. “What you might not know is that she has captured the heart of our dear Adora.” Most at the table did know, it wasn’t much of a secret but Adora blushed anyway, Catra couldn’t stop herself from grinning.

Reese smiled wide and looked around the faces at the table. “You all know what that means!”

“Oh god Reese no!” Adora moaned covering her face.

“Catra I know you’re new here so we’ll give you the story.” Reese said with a grin. “We may not be as big a spectator sport as the big games like football or basketball but we still are televised and the stadiums still have jumbotrons and love to pan the camera around. Early in our days we had the commentators pan the kiss cam over to our bench and panic one of our happy couples. We vowed to never be so embarrassed again so we make sure that all our couples are ready.”

She put her hands up in a square and aimed her ‘camera’ at Mermista and Sea Hawk.

With a roll of her eyes Mermista pulled Hawk over and they kissed to a resounding cheer from the table. Reese moved her hands from them to another couple at the table and then a third before panning over to them.

“Reese why do yo-” Adora was interrupted as Catra pulled her into a kiss that was probably a little too heated to be appropriate for the kiss cam. She didn’t seem too upset about it and returned the kiss with just as much vigour only distantly aware that the table had broken up into raucous cheering.

“Guess I should have seen that coming.” Adora murmured against her lips.

“Just wait til they actually point a kiss cam at us.” She wiggled her eyebrows and Adora smiled.

“God help them if they do.”

* * *

Catra eased her way up Adora’s body until she could lay her head on her chest where Adora automatically pressed her chin down on top of her head. Her arms wrapped around behind Adora’s neck and Adora’s rested on her waist and one on the back of her neck gently stroking through her hair. 

Post sex snuggling was such a good way to end the night.

“I hardly need to go to the gym with a workout like that every night.” She purred kissing at the skin of Adora’s neck.

“We don’t have sex _every_ night.”

“No.” She admitted. “Sometimes we have it in the shower, or on the couch, or in the kitchen, or in the bathrooms in Hallmond.”

“I get it, I get it.” Catra smiled not even needing to look to know Adora would be blushing. “Do you think we have sex to much?”

Catra pushed herself up so she could look Adora in the eyes. “No.” She said flatly. “Do you?”

“We certainly have more than most couples…”

“We aren’t those couples.” She sighed fondly looking down at her mate. “Do you want to have less sex?”

“No!” She answered quickly. “I just don’t want you to think you have to, I just love to be close to you, but we don’t _have_ to be close with sex.”

Catra’s eyes softened and she smiled lovingly. “I love you but you can really get too deep into your own head sometimes.” She bopped her on the forehead lightly. “If I didn’t want to have sex I’d let you know, but I love being close to you too during sex and otherwise.”

Adora smiled. “I don’t know what I would do without you.”

“Masturbate to Magikats on pornhub.” She teased, her tail snaking down and sliding up the inside of Adora’s thigh. Adora turned bright red but tried to maintain some semblance of composure. 

“None of them could take your place.”

Her tail slid higher and she was gratified to find Adora hard again. “Of course not, but you’d still do it if I wasn’t around.” She smiled gazing down at her mate and made a show of running her fingers over the scar on her neck. "Good thing I'm not going anywhere."

"Mmm that fetish, among others, is your fault you know."

Catra reached back and took Adora’s cock in her hand letting her tail wrap around her muscular thigh, she was deeply gratified by the sharp inhale of breath from Adora.

“Guilty.” She purred. She leaned down and kissed at the side of Adora’s neck below her ear sliding down until she could press Adora’s cock against her slit slowly moving her hips up and down grinding against her. “Do you want to go again?”

“Always, I can never get enough of you my love.” She panted.

“Good, I want to be close to you some more.” She slid up and lowered herself down onto her mate. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

* * *

“Stop fussing with your shirt.” Catra scolded her for the fourth time.

Adora smiled weakly at her mate in the passenger seat and let go of her shirt collar.

“I can see your mark just fine and besides they already know we're together.”

That was true. Scorpia and Entrapta were some of the first to know as a matter of fact. If you didn’t count Tweek and Bow figuring it out before they had.

“I want it to show anyway.”

She glanced over and saw the small smile on her face.

“It does.” She said gently. “And don’t be nervous, Scorpia loves everybody and Entrapta, well Entrapta is weird, but mostly harmless.”

“That’s reassuring.”

“Trust me the worst part is going to be Scorpia’s hug. I need you to stay close to me so she doesn’t crush my ribs.”

“This is it.” She said pulling the car up to a small but well kept little house. “Looks like a nice place, they’re renting it right?”

“Yeah, Trapta has that big Electrical engineering scholarship money and Scorp is a Veterinarian so that pays pretty well out here in farm country.”

They walked up to the front door and rang the doorbell which was quickly answered by an absolute wall of a woman with short black and gray hair and a scorpion tail. Her smile was nearly blinding and it stunned her long enough to be wrapped into a bone crushing hug with Catra.

“It’s so good to finally meet you!” 

“Well I guess this could be worse.” Catra’s voice came muffled as her face was smashed into Adora’s chest.

“Nice to meet you too.” She gasped.

Scorpia let them go and they both gasped for air.

“Good to see you Wildcat.”

Catra smiled despite herself. “Good to see you too Scorp, now are you gunna let us in or what?”

“Oh! Of course come on in.” Scorpia stepped aside and let them into the house.

The living room was small but comfortably set up with a small loveseat against the front wall and an L shaped sectional couch against the far wall with a large TV against the side wall and a coffee table. A half wall separated the living room from the small dining area, probably to make the space feel larger than it was. The dining area was taken up almost entirely by a large table at which Tweek was seated. The kitchen beyond was small but serviceable and the person there with enormous pink twin-tails must be Entrapta.

They followed Scorpia through into the kitchen and Adora noticed the table was covered by a mat of squares, it didn’t look like a tablecloth but she didn’t know what else it could be. 

“D&D map.” Catra supplied reading her thoughts. She ran her fingers over the map with a far off smile on her lips. “I haven’t played since before you went to college Scorp.”

“What? Why?”

“Ain’t no games at Helmand I was going to join. I play real life D&D now.” She grinned tapping the HEMA patch on the shoulder of her jacket.

“Oh yeah you’ll have to tell us all about it! Come on, have a seat.” Scorpia waved them towards the table and they sat down next to each other. 

“Hey Tweek, Catra told me you knew Entrapta from back home?” She asked nodding to him.

“Yep, always needed my help with the ‘fiddly bits’ he quoted. Practically grew up together in the scrap yard my family owns building contraptions out of junk.” He replied grinning and idly stroking the mug in front of him.

Entrapta turned in the kitchen facing them. “It’s not junk anymore if we make something from it!”

“Only if it _works._ ”

She opened her mouth but closed it and nodded slightly.

“Not that junk is a bad thing mind you, I love junk, you can make all kinds of things with junk, sometimes those things even work.” He temporized with a wry grin.

“I haven’t made as much working junk without you.” She walked over to the table with a tray of steaming mugs. “Hot cider. I hope you all brought your own additives.”

Catra reached into her bag and pulled out a bottle of amaretto, Tweek produced a flask and Scorpia pulled out a jar of cinnamon sticks.

“Why haven’t you mde as many uh contraptions?” Adora asked as she prepared two mugs of cider with amaretto. 

“Because I haven’t had my ‘fiddly bits’ expert.” She replied eyeing Tweek.

“She’s electrical, he's mechanical.” Catra explained.

Adora nodded in understanding.

“You’ve never played D&D Adora?” Scorpia asked about twenty minutes later once they had all settled down to the table waiting for the food to be delivered.

She shook her head. “No, I never had the time before, but Catra has told me about some of your old games and I’m definitely interested!”

“I’m planning on running a game once the winter semester starts and everyone gets their schedules sorted out. I’m sure Catra can help you figure out a character.” Tweek said. “These two have graciously offered to host the game here.”

“It’s half the reason we picked this place!” Entrapta said, spreading her hands out over the table. “It was one of the few places that had a big enough dining area for a good D&D table.” 

“Do you think you’ll do your old rogue again Cat?” Scorpia asked with a smile.

“No, I’ve gotta be true to myself so I’ll have to use a sword and shield like I do in real life now.” Catra looked at her. “A greatsword for you love?”

She smiled. “I figure I should start with something familiar, right?”

They all nodded. “Huh two frontline warriors we’ll actually have some staying power in fights, that’ll be a change.” Entrapta mused.

“We had a real problem with not having enough tanking power in our old groups, Scorpia our cleric was usually the one who had to take all the hits.” Catra said sidelong to her.

“You mean I might get to heal someone other than myself!” Scorpia looked like she might cry with joy.

“I’m going to have to recalculate my spell selections.” Entrapta muttered, producing a notebook from somewhere and beginning to scribble in it.

She was looking forward to it already.

* * *

“Alright is that everything?” Adora asked, cramming the last of their bags into the Saturn’s tiny trunk.

“Yes that should be it, unless we’re forgetting something.” She shrugged. “Can’t be anything important if we are.”

Adora shrugged back in agreement and they climbed into the small car.

“It’s a long drive to Selene, might have to pass the time with a roadjob.” She said smiling sidelong at Adora.

“I will crash and kill both of us if you do.”

Catra laughed. “Well I guess you’ll have to pull over and fuck me if I get horny then.”

“Catra there is not room in this car for that.”

“Just fuck me on the hood then.” She could tell Adora wanted to give her incredulous look but kept her eyes on the road.

“You are drastically overestimating the sex appeal of this car.”

“You make up for it.”

“I appreciate that but please try and contain yourself until we get to your house.”

“Fiiiiiiiine.” She sighed dramatically. “You better make it good tonight then.”

“On my honor.” She promised with a wry smile.

The drive was long, though it was about two hours shorter than if they had gone by bus as Catra usually did and despite the small size of the car it was much more comfortable than a bus. Catra shared stories about her family as they drove, her older sister Matra and her younger twin sisters Cally and Mally who had just turned twelve.

“Dad died before the twins were born.” She had told Adora about her father before though she had never gone through the full story. Maybe she never would, it wasn’t something she liked to think about.

Adora’s hand slid off the wheel and found hers twinning their fingers together. Adora didn’t usually drive with just one hand, too safety conscious for that sort of thing so the simple gesture meant just that little bit more.

“Mom has done ok, Aunt Susan and Uncle Mark help out a lot, they live on the farm in separate house a little way down the road.” She rubbed circles over Adora’s hand in her lap idly as she talked. “I helped out with what I could on the farm, but mom really pushed me to go to college even though we could barely afford it. Helmand was awful but I think I would still do it again if I had to go back and choose knowing what I do now, knowing you were on the other side would help a lot.”

Adora smiled softly and squeezed her hand. “If I had to go back and choose knowing what I do now, I’d go to Helmand.”

Catra felt tears sting at the corners of her eyes. “What did I do to deserve you?”

“You deserve so much more than I could ever give you.”

“You’re gunna make me cry.”

“I love you, that has nothing to do with what you think you do or don’t deserve.”

She did cry.

* * *

The road changed from asphalt to gravel and then to dirt as they approached the farm Catra’s family lived on. It was like a thing out of a movie: a big two story farmhouse, a hay barn, grain silo, garage, ramshackle shed and a few other small buildings surrounded by huge rolling fields. They pulled up to the wide driveway and parked, Adora could see people sitting on the wide covered porch and decided she would do Catra a favor.

They got out of the car and Adora put her arms over her head and stretched, a series of satisfying pops accompanying her contented sigh. Catra was smiling at her when she looked over.

“That was a good showing.” She purred. “Come on we can get our stuff out later let’s go say hi first.”

Adora nodded and they walked up to the house together, as promised Adora had worn one of her compression shirts though she had picked one with a low collar rather than the high turtleneck they usually had. There were five Magikats on the porch, two of which were clearly the twins, a pair she assumed was Catra’s older sister and her mate who was a burly male Magikat, and another who was probably one of her aunts.

They walked up onto the porch and everyone stood to greet them. A brief round of handshakes and hugs ensued before people returned to their seats. 

“So how much is she paying you?” Matra asked.

She could feel Catra rolling her eyes next to her so she wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her against her. Making sure to look down at her to show off the mark on her neck while she placed a chaste kiss against her cheek.

“I’m the last person you'd want to hire as a girlfriend, I'd be so awkward if we weren't mates."

Catra relaxed a little into her. "God you would be too."

She laughed. "Thank you for believing in me my love."

“I know you too well to think you’d be able to fake being a mate.” She smirked and leaned over kissing her cheek. “You make a pretty good real one though.”

“Love you too hon.”

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is pretty short, I have been having computer issues and have not been able to write as much as I would like. I am actually posting this from my old laptop instead of my desktop but I have new parts coming in the net couples days so hopefully next weeks chapter will be unaffected. If nothing else I can just write it from my laptop. On the plus side I have done a lot of work on my vampire fic because I'm writing that one in pencil first so that's an upside at least. 
> 
> I posted the smut fic I have been talking about last week as well and I noticed a few of you in the comments over there which I super appreciate. I don't have any other short stories in mind so I'm focusing on the vampire fic right now since it has my muse. I think I am going to work on that and hopefully have a decent amount written by November. I am going to be participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and attempting to write a 50,000 word novel in November so I want some extra stuff done to post before then. I am going to try and continue posting aCP through November if I still have ideas for chapters by then and if not maybe it will be the next fic. In any case wish me luck it's going to be a lot of writing.
> 
> I want to thank the handful of people who have stepped forward to help me make this fic more inclusive, I managed to catch myself a couple times this chapter and I hope I have improved, but please call me out if you notice something weird or uncomfortable. I am trying my best but it is certainly a learning process.
> 
> I love all of you and appreciate every kudo and comment!
> 
> P.S. My car came back from the shop with only a couple minor repairs and no impending issues on the horizon so huzzah for that. The Saturn lives on in life and fiction!


	9. Homestead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Did you two really go three rounds last night?” He asked.
> 
> “Four actually.” She smiled. “I gagged her for the last one.”
> 
> “That’s some impressive stamina.”
> 
> Adora shrugged. “We’ve always been like that, besides I think Catra wanted to try and make up for; ‘Years of her damn yowling through the wall.’ Her words, not mine.”
> 
> He chuckled. “I always told her this would happen eventually, it seems like you two are really hooked on each other.”
> 
> “Addicted for sure.” She rubbed at the mark on her neck. “She’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

“You must be Adora.”

A middle aged slightly weathered looking Magikat asked from the doorway to the kitchen as they entered the farmhouse. Catra looked like her in some ways, they had the same wild black hair, the same cheekbones, some of the same patterns on her skin though not all of them. Her mother did not have the heterochromia Catra did, her eyes were both the brilliant blue Catra had in one eye. She assumed her father must have had the golden yellow that Catra’s other eye had.

“I am, it’s nice to meet you.” She replied.

“From the way Catra talks about you I expected you to be nine feet tall and weilding a sword.” She replied with a dry humor and a smirk that was very much like but not quite exactly like Catra’s.

“Six foot two last I checked, but I can go get my sword, it’s in the trunk.” She replied with a grin.

“I walked right into that one, didn’t I?”

“Sure did mom.” Catra said, stepping up and embracing her mother.

She opened her arms and pulled Adora in next.

“I’m waiting to see if it will be you or Matra that is more insufferable over this.”

Before Catra could speak Adora interrupted. “Don’t worry, I know how to calm her down.”

Catra looked at her one eyebrow cocked and the sliver of a smile on her face that said.  _ Oh do you? _

Adora grinned and leaned over kissing Catra on the cheek. In response Catra turned slightly red and looked away. 

…

“Shut up.”

Adora hugged her. “But I looooove you.”

Catra’s mother smiled at them and Adora winked conspiratorially at her.

“Good to see you do really  _ know  _ my dear Catrina.”

“Mooooooom.” Catra groaned, though she made no attempt to remove herself from Adora’s hug.

“It’s in my parental contract to torture you in front of your mate, there’s nothing I can do.” She shook her head in sad acceptance.

Catra pursed her lips into a thin line unamused by her mother’s snark.. “Happy Birthday Mom.”

“Aw thanks dear, now I’m sure you want to show your mate around so I won’t keep you, dinner will be ready by five.” 

Catra softened slightly and smiled again. “Yeah, I think we’ll go up to the Silo first, safety harnesses still in the shed?”

“Yes, you two are going to be showing us this HEMA you’ve been talking so much about right?”

“After dinner yeah, I hope you’re ready to see your daughter get her ass beat over and over though.” Catra looked at her with a grin and Adora smiled sheepishly.

“I always offer to go easy on you.”

“Don’t you dare.”

They shared a smile, Catra learned best by fighting very tough opponents, she fought Mermista, herself, and Reese during practice more often than others. She went and trained against others when she wanted to perfect some technique or if she was figuring out one of her own. Adora now knew that if she saw Catra practicing against someone else to expect her to try something new next time they fought.

“Well I look forward to seeing what it’s like, but for now we need you out of the kitchen, I assume your cooking has not improved.”

Adora furrowed her brow at this, she loved Catra’s cooking. “I always love the stuff you make, stir fry, and chili, and those baked burritos you made were delicious.”

Catra gave her a crooked grin. 

“I bet she didn’t follow a recipe at all.” Her mother scolded. “Never has.”

“No, I guess she didn’t, but it was all good.”

“My recipes come from my mom and her mother before her and so on and this one wouldn't even look at them.”

Catra rolled her eyes, this was clearly a long standing debate. “I’m not allowed in the kitchen because I don’t follow the recipes, doesn’t matter that my food turns out fine.”

“Well I am sorry miss De Lange but I must side with my stomach on this one.” She wrapped her arm around Catra’s waist, and nodded as though she had made a great decree.

“Well I am glad you found someone who likes your cavalier cooking.” Her mother replied with a frown that was slightly too exaggerated.

They all laughed.

* * *

Catra climbed the last few rungs of the ladder and turned to help Adora up the last few steps onto the top of the grain silo, switching her safety harness from the ladder hook to the ring around the top of the silo. They scooted over and sat down on the narrow catwalk that ringed the top of the silo.

“Wow.” Adora breathed looking out over the rolling farmland around them.

You could see for miles over farms until the valley sides began to rise properly creating a verdant green lip in the distance with a patchwork of farms, ribbons of blue rivers, and clumps of buildings breaking up the gently rolling valley floor.

“I would sit up here for hours sometimes, just watching the time go by.” Catra said slowly. “It made me feel… calm, just seeing all this out before me. Like my own problems were small in comparison to all  _ this  _ and that somehow made them easier to bear.”

Adora pulled Catra against her side and she gratefully lay her head on Adora’s shoulder. 

“In years past I have always dreamed of this. Matra and her mate never do anything like this but when I saw them together it always… burned I guess. It made me want what they had.” Catra said slowly. “My usual ‘therapy’ like coming up here didn’t help, it always just made it worse.”

Adora smiled gently and stroked Catra’s hair. “Well is it better now that I’m here with you?”

Catra smiled and pressed into her side a little more.

“Yes.”

“I had relationships before this…” Adora began slowly. “Other dates when I was ‘popular’ so I don’t think I ever had that ‘burn’ you did, but…” She squeezed Catra tighter and felt her tail wrap around her waist. “They were just so  _ empty,  _ I was with people I didn’t even really like just because that was the kind of thing expected of us. It makes me feel almost unclean in comparison to what we have now.”

“What we have now is  _ very  _ unclean Adora.” Adora looked at her confused. “We are so  _ dirty. _ ”

Adora rolled her eyes. “I suppose we were getting a bit heavy there.”

Catra chuckled. “Stop worrying about the past and be here with me in the present.”

Adora sighed and kissed Catra. They sat up on top of the silo and just watched the time go by until dinner.

* * *

“Come on I know you can handle a sword better than that!” Adora called to her as they circled.

“Save that talk for the bedroom.” She replied easily.

"You hardly need the encouragement there."

Catra smiled even though Adora couldn't see it through the mask. "I've never heard you complaining."

"My mouth has better things to do."

"I'll make sure that's true tonight."

"Don't threaten me with a good time."

Their swords clashed and clattered at least as much as their tongues. It was practice for the team to banter while they fought. The thought process was that if you were good enough to be witty while you fought it would unsettle your opponent, and if they tried to banter back it might distract them. 

Though whenever they fought it inevitably became aggressive flirting.

But it was fun. They had brought their full gear and were suited up in their pads and sparring in front of the porch where Catra’s family sat and watched.

Adora was an absolutely unstoppable force with her greatsword, she fought close with it using the flat of the blade, the pommel and the crossguard more than the rest of the blade. The end of the blade only came at her when Adora swung to score on her. Catra shoved with her shield pushing Adora’s sword away and trying to bring her sword up towards her exposed side. Somehow Adora twisted her body away from the strike and her sword whirled, Catra saw the blow coming and tried to get her shield between it and herself. The tip of Adora’s sword barely scraped the side of her shield and went wide of its intended target. She took advantage and pushed Adora’s arm away with her shield and stabbed forward with her sword giving Adora a good solid poke in the middle of her chest.

She staggered back a step from the poke and stopped. “Well scored.”

Catra lowered her stance breathing hard and lifted her mask. Cheering erupted from the porch and she smiled.

It wasn’t the first time she had scored a point on Adora, but it was the first three point hit, a tag with the blade or point on the chest, that she had scored while Adora was really trying. Adora lifted her mask and bowed slightly.

“You didn’t go easy on me did you?”

“I would never, believe me that was a genuine score.” Adora replied earnestly. “You’re getting faster, it’s very hard to get around that shield.”

Catra believed her. She had asked Adora not to go easy on her and she believed her.

“Still need to work on my endurance though.” 

“You’ll get there, you’ve been keeping up with me during our morning workouts.” Adora encouraged, as they walked back over to the porch. The twins came running over each holding a gently condensating water bottle to give to them.

“That was so cool!” They cried in unison.

Catra spent the next few minutes catching her breath and explaining the scoring system, and why the hit she had just landed was a good one. When she turned around Adora had one twin hanging off each bicep hauling them up into the air with little apparent effort, a big goofy grin on her face as she looked back at her.

Unbidden thoughts slipped into her mind.

She imagined Adora just like this but instead of her little twin sister it was their  _ own  _ two children.

_ Oh fuck. _

She shook herself and the moment passed.

She had felt it before at the doctor's appointment when there was a brief moment where she thought she could have been pregnant. A calmness had settled on her, Adora was her mate and she trusted and loved her. Having a child by accident would have been inconvenient but she couldn’t think of anyone better than Adora to be there with her.

Now that moment of uncertainty had passed and they were waiting on word from Dr. Netossa to see if it was possible. 

She looked at Adora there smiling and playing with her little sisters, and she wanted it to be possible.

* * *

Adora closed the door behind her as they stepped into Catra’s room. Freshly showered and ready to end the evening.

Catra threw open the large window that looked out over the farm from her second story room to let in the cool evening air. She sat on the windowsill and looked out over the valley bathed in the redgold haze of the setting sun. She looked painfully beautiful silhouetted there with her damp hair and glowing eyes, Adora thought her heart might burst out of her chest.

She went over and sat next to her in the window. Catra smiled at her, soft and warm and full of wordless love, she was thinking though, Adora could see it in her eyes. It wasn’t troubling her per se, but it was occupying her.

“What’s on your mind?”

“Have I become so obvious?” 

“Only to me.”

Catra smiled and she looked out at the horizon.

“I was thinking about children. Our children.”

Adora nodded, she had been thinking about that possibility a little bit too, it was something she had never thought possible before, she wasn’t sure how she felt about it yet, if it was even possible.

“You want kids? If… if that’s possible.” She asked.

“I… I think so.” She said quietly. “Eventually, I think with you, I do.”

That was big. Adora felt it in her chest, the bigness of that statement. She breathed out.

“Would you… want kids with me?” Catra asked, looking at her from the corner of her eyes. “If it’s possible…”

She tried to imagine that. 

An image formed in her head of Catra smiling and happy, her belly big and round, while a little girl with dark cat ears and a long tail ran towards her. Adora couldn’t imagine her face. It was just a white blur in the haze of her mind’s eye but her eyes were clear, one golden yellow the other stormy blue.

Her chest felt tight.

“Yes.”

Catra’s tail wrapped around her wrist and she scooted a little closer.

“Well.” Catra’s hand rested on her thigh and there was a big goofy smile on her face. 

_ She’s going to say something corny. _

__

“Why don’t we go try our very hardest to get me knocked up then?”

“You know, I don’t think any amount of trying will get you pregnant  _ tonight. _ ” 

She knew for a fact Catra was still taking her birth control, it was important for managing her heat cycle.

_ That’s another thing we should talk about. _

Catra swung her leg over and sat face to face in her lap. “Maybe not…” She smiled lavisciously. “But I still want you to  _ breed  _ me.”

Adora swallowed thickly and she felt herself grow warm. 

_ Damn her for exploiting my fetishes. Damn her for being my fetish. _

She gripped Catra by the thighs and stood moving towards the bed. "Can we be noisy or am I going to have to gag you?"

"Tempting but no, if I have to put up with Matra's moaning she can put up with mine." Catra replied grinning, pulling her shirt over her head as Adora carried her before tossing her down onto the bed with a thump.

Stripping she found herself between Catra’s legs, her mouth pressing over her core as she warmed to her mate. “I believe you promised to keep my mouth busy earlier.”

She knew Catra would probably rather skip this foreplay tonight but Adora felt like teasing her for taking advantage of her fetish earlier.

“I’d rather keep your cock busy right now.” She panted in a needy whine. Her back arched up off the bed as Adora pushed her tongue into her.

_ Gods she is horny. _

Catra was already wet and heated. She pushed two fingers in to probe at a spot she knew made Catra squirm and looked up at her.

“My my you are ready to  _ breed  _ aren’t you?”

Catra made a sort of mewling growl that Adora thought was very cute. “Fuck, please I need you inside me Adora.”

She climbed up placing her hips between Catra’s thighs and using one hand to press her cock against her soaked folds gently rubbing to spread Catra’s wetness and prepare herself.

Catra’s eyes were dark with lust, she reached up and pulled her down into a searing kiss, fingers slipping into her hair as her legs wrapped around her waist. Adora pushed forward and made the connection bringing them together causing Catra to moan into her mouth.

“I am going to knock you up.” She growled in Catra’s ear. She could feel Catra shiver underneath her. “How does that sound hmm? A nice big belly full of kittens.”

_ “Yesssss.”  _ She hissed. 

“Let me hear you, I want to know how badly you want it.”

Catra squirmed and moaned louder as Adora picked up her pace. “Please! My mate breed me! I want to have a belly full of your kittens!”

She slammed her hips forward and pumped her seed into Catra fulfilling her breathy wishes.

They had found several kinks in common over the course of their relationship. Adora loved her exoctic Magikat, Catra loved her strength, biting, and scratching. Catra absolutely loved having Adora cum inside her, perhaps that was related to this newfound kink for breeding.

She pulled Catra up into orgasm after her, a hand working her clit while she gyrated her hips grinding into the spot Catra loved until she crashed over the edge too.

“Mmmm that really gets you going huh?” Adora teased nipping at Catra’s lip.

She blushed though she was already red from their exertions. “I… I loved the way you were talking, it made me so hot. The idea of carrying your children just uhn.”

Adora pressed a hand over Catra’s stomach massaging gently and chuckled.

“I bet you’d hate being pregnant.”

Catra huffed out a laugh. “I would for sure, all big and round and unsexy.”

“Well I don’t know about that…” She imagined Catra big and round on top of her. “I don’t think anything would stop you from being my sexy mate.”

“I don’t think anything would stop you from being a kinky degenerate.” She smiled. “But I am too so.” She shrugged and pushed up rolling them over so she was on top. “Now let’s try to put a baby in me a couple more times.”

* * *

Adora sat on the porch with a cup of coffee the next morning looking out over the fields swaying gently in the breeze. Matra’s mate, Max, walked out of the house and sat down next to her.

“Did you two really go three rounds last night?” He asked.

“Four actually.” She smiled. “I gagged her for the last one.”

“That’s some impressive stamina.”

Adora shrugged. “We’ve always been like that, besides I think Catra wanted to try and make up for; ‘Years of her damn yowling through the wall.’ Her words, not mine.”

He chuckled. “I always told her this would happen eventually, it seems like you two are really hooked on eachother.”

“Addicted for sure.” She rubbed at the mark on her neck. “She’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

“I think anyone that knows Catra can see you’re good for her too, she’s… happy.” He said slowly.

Adora smiled. “She deserves it.”

The door swung open and Catra walked out holding two plates of steaming breakfast. She handed one to her and sat down beside her.

“I managed to finish before Mom came down and yelled at me for not measuring the precise amount of milk for the pancakes.” She leaned forward and looked over at Max. “Your mate is in there now.”

He raised his coffee and smiled slightly in acknowledgement. “Best steer clear of the kitchen then.”

Catra nodded with a small knowing smile and leaned back digging into her food which Adora had started inhaling as soon as Catra had handed it to her.

* * *

Her shoes sank into the soft tilled earth as they walked through the cornfield towards the strip of forest at its edge where her little childhood hideaway had been. She looked back at Adora following behind her, the golden blond of her hair matching the yellowing corn and making it look like she had a wreath of dried stalks in her hair like some kind of harvest goddess. 

They broke out of the cornfield and crossed the few feet between the tilled soil and the strip of forest at the edge of their property. 

“Follow me.” She climbed up a bick sturdy tree with a few bounding leaps and looked down at Adora expectantly.

Adora smiled crookedly and pulled herself up after her, all upper body strength hauling herself up but no less gratifying for Catra to watch. Once Adora made her way to her branch she crawled out over a dense thorny thicket bellow and swung to another tree on the inside of the thorny wall. Adora followed her ably enough and they made it to the ground inside the thicket.

“It’s all still here, guess cutting through that hedge was never worth the trouble.” She mused looking over the little campsite where she had spent many hours of her childhood and later young adulthood.

A blackened fire pit, a log with the bark worn away from sitting on it, a few tools hanging from nails pounded into a tree now rusted, weathered wooden crates with what might once have been camping supplies in them.

“It’s been a few years since I was last out here.”

“It’s a beautiful little spot.” The trees parted somewhat giving a clear view of the sky through the leaves and the surrounding thicket meant nothing would bother them out here.

“I would come out here when I needed to be alone, sometimes I’d camp here for a few days.” She sat down on the log by the firepit and stared into the long dead coals. “Used to worry mom sick but she eventually got used to the fact that I just needed it sometimes.” She smiled thinking back. “Not like there was anything she could do, no one ever found me out here and I never brought anyone here, until you.”

Adora looked around a soft smile on her lips. This was really it, Catra had brought her to the one place she had never brought anyone else. Her childhood hideaway.

“We should bring a tent out here and camp next time.”

“I’d like that, this place needs some new memories.” She replied standing and walking over to Adora. “Memories that involve you.”

Adora pulled her in and they kissed softly for a long moment. Catra had shown Adora her scars, these ones old and long healed but she had kissed her and rubbed over the old wounds gently, no amount of past scars would make her ugly in Adora’s eyes.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

* * *

They sat together at the table in the kitchen, books and pens and paper spread out on the table before them. Some of them were Catra’s old character sheets, notebooks full of scribbled notes and the descriptions of items and events most of which made no sense now without the context of the game. 

They each had a fresh character sheet out before them and the player's handbook for fifth edition open on the table. Catra was helping her through the process of making a paladin while she was making a fighter, Catra kept mentioning multiclassing into some kind of swashbuckler but Adora didn’t quite understand what that meant just yet. She was currently focused on how to hit things as hard as physiologically possible with a two handed sword.

“I’ve never played a paladin either.” Catra said, scrolling through some guide on her phone. “But I’m told yelling ‘smite’ very loudly whenever you cast it is very important.”

“I’ll keep a note of that.” 

Tweek’s game was still a few weeks away but they had the time to work on this now and had access to Catra’s collection of books which they would be bringing back to campus with them when they left tomorrow morning.

“Being a fighter is much more straightforward than the rogue I am used to, but I like the backstory we have going.”

She was going to be playing a lawful good Aasimar and Catra a chaotic neutral Tabaxi. They were married and traveled the world looking for artifacts and the like, though Adora’s character was secretly also looking for a way to extend the life of her lover to match her extended lifespan. It was a fairly simple backstory but allowed for her to ease into roleplaying since it would be easy for her to be good and in love with Catra, or rather their characters to be in love. She didn’t quite know what to expect but Catra was excited and she looked forward to experiencing it with her.

“Man now I’m all excited and we still have weeks before this game starts. It’s been so long since I played!”

“I’m excited to try it seems like a lot of fun.” 

“I bet you’ll love it, it’s right up your alley you huge nerd.”

“Love you too hon.”

* * *

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit short but I'm actually pretty happy with it regardless. 
> 
> I have solved my computer issues (turns out one of my RAM sticks went bad) so I don't have that taking up my time anymore and I should have new parts in the next couple days but it runs well enough to write on only one stick. 
> 
> In other news I'm making a discord cause some of you seem like you might be interested in chatting about She-Ra and writing and other stuff so I guess we're doing this.
> 
> https://discord.gg/qhRzD8S
> 
> So come hang out if that's something you're interested in. I need yall to come give me suggestions for happier fics to read because I have a list of like fifteen that all look really good but I'm just way to angst'd out to read right now. Pls send help I need 50k words of fluff stat.
> 
> Thank you all for reading and I love getting all your comments and kudos! See you next week!


	10. Swordfight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “SeaHawk always gets a hardon when I sleep in his lap.”
> 
> Catra smirked and pinched Adora’s cheek. “She does too.”
> 
> “I’ve never heard you complain about it.” Adora mumbled.
> 
> “That’s because I’m kinky like that.”
> 
> “Love you darling.” Adora drawled.

Adora pushed open the door to their bedroom, tossed her duffle bag onto the floor and collapsed onto the bed face first.

Catra came in after her and did the same, laying down on her back.

“We’ve got two days before classes start again.” Catra mumbled against her back.

“Thank god, I feel like we’ve had stuff to do every other day for weeks!” Adora grumbled into the comforter.

Catra snuggled into her back and Adora felt it like a warm massage against her tired muscles. 

“What should we do with our few precious days of freedom?” Catra purred against her neck.

“As little as possible.”

“Well unfortunately I think we need to go to the store tomorrow, all our traveling means we’re out of food.”

Adora made a noise deep in her chest that was somewhere between a groan and a sigh.

Catra chuckled. “We’ll look so domestic grocery shopping together.”

“Mmm.” She pulled Catra’s arms down around her neck. “I love you in all our moments domestic and otherwise.”

Catra hugged her and lay kisses against the nape of her neck. “I love you too. I think it's supposed to be cold and rainy so why don't we make chili?"

"Mmmm sounds delicious. If we’re lucky it will wait til we’re home before it rains, that would be perfect.”

* * *

It was perfect.

They had managed to get everything they needed to make chili and Adora had only snuck a handful of sweets into the cart while she wasn’t looking. The rain had started to fall mere steps from the entrance to their building and had grown to a steady but not torrential downpour as they made their way into their apartment.

Adora helped her cook, or rather Catra dragooned her into helping to reduce the amount of petting Adora inflicted upon her while she was trying to cook. Not that she was opposed but it was hard to concentrate on the knife when Adora’s strong arms were wrapped around her waist with her hands on her stomach.

“Glad to see you can wield a knife half as well as that meat cleaver you call a sword.” She teased while she stirred ground beef in a pan while Adora chopped potatoes.

“I’ve got a knife you know.” She drawled back.

“And I’ve got control of your dinner.” 

“Mercy, mercy I yield.”

Catra smiled. “That’s what I thought.” She bumped her hip against Adora’s.

Adora smiled coyly. “Truly you have me wrapped around your finger, or would you prefer me on a leash?”

“Don’t tempt me, I’ll put a bell on you.”

“You’d take it off after less than a day of me ringing it constantly.” She leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “I don’t care if everyone knows I bottom for you.”

“Everyone assumes I’m top already darling.”

Adora opened her mouth but closed it, then started again. “Well with a savage beauty like you why wouldn’t they?”

"Who wouldn't love getting pounded into a bed under you?" She countered.

"Just because I'm on top of you doesn't mean I'm in control." She smiled sidelong back at her.

Catra rolled her eyes. "I am barely in control of my  _ own _ body when you're on top of me, nevermind yours."

They both laughed.

* * *

Adora was near comatose with rich contentment. A belly full of chili, a lap full of Catra, a steady Autum rain pattering at the window and the knowledge that she could sleep in tomorrow. Her blood felt like warm syrup in her veins and she pulled Catra into her chest with a deep humm. 

Her phone buzzed on the coffee table and she reached over to grab it.

\-------------------------------------

> Best friend sword squad <

\-------------------------------------

Glim-Glam: Hey you guys finally back from your family meeting bonanza?

> Yeah, we're home. [img]

A picture of her and Catra on the couch together. Her face was half hidden by Catra's wild hair but the happy lethargic smile was visible. Catra had a lazy smile on her face with her arms folded over her chest for warmth, eyes narrowed to sleepy slits.

Glim-Glam: Shit you look cozy as fuck.

I showed Bow and he's on the ground faking a fucking heart attack now.

He’s begging me for CPR now

Anyway, are we going to finally see you guys back at the bonfire this weekend?

> Yeah Scorpia and Entrapta are going to be coming with us this time too.

Glim-Glam: Oh yeah, Catra’s friends right?

And Tweek’s I guess?

Man, small fuckin’ world.

[img]

A picture of Bow on the ground dramatically reaching towards the camera and clutching his chest.

Glim-Glam: 👍 👎

> 👎

DrdPrt: 👎

Kitten: 👎

JunkRat: 👎

Vio-Lyn: 👎

Perfuma: 👍 Save him!

Cinnamon-Roll: Thank you Perfuma.

Glim-Glam: The collective has spoken, mercy kill it is.

Catra craned her head up to look at Adora. “I’m kitten on your phone? Really?”

“My little snuggly kitten.” She replied squeezing Catra.

“Adora you spotted for my bench press yesterday.”

“My strong snuggly kitten.” She amended. 

Their phones buzzed again.

Glime-Glam: I have elected to smother him to put him out of his misery.

DrdPrt: What are you smothering him with? I need the gory details.

Glim-Glam: Don’t worry about it.

Cinnamon-Roll: Her thighs! Send Help!

Glim-Glam: Quiet you.

Kitten: I feel like this is our fault?

> 100% we brought the horny to this group.

DrdPrt: [img]

A selfie of Mermista laying on her back, clearly naked though her breasts are covered by SeaHawk’s back with his head in the crook of her neck.

Kitten: Have you been texting us while having sex?

DrdPrt: A little bit.

Kitten: I couldn’t even hold my phone still enough to text if I wanted to.

DrdPrt: Hear that Hawk? 

C-Hawk: Excuse us, my honor must be defended.

They didn’t join the chat again for hours.

* * *

Adora stood in her pads surveying the training going on before her. They were finally back in the gym which was good because it was beginning to get too cold to train outside. They had a tournament coming up on Thursday in the next state over and Adora wanted to bring a victory back for the bonfire on Friday.

Reese came up beside her and handed her a folded letter. “My recommendations for who to bring.”

The school would cover transport and lodging for twelve team members on away games, if any more came the club would have to cover it themselves. Reese always gave her a list of recommendations on who to bring for her final approval, she rarely made any adjustments to the list, Reese was her tactical coordinator afterall. Every now and again though the numbers could get the better of her and Adora would make a swap. Not often though.

She flipped the paper open and began to read. Herself, Reese, Mermista, Auroch, Havers… nothing surprising and all good choices, her eyes stopped near the bottom.

“You think Catra is ready for a tournament?” She believed in her mate, they trained together often enough that Adora knew full well Catra had become quite adept, but it was still fairly soon to put her in that kind of situation.

“I do.” Reese said with a nod. “I want her on the bench as my wildcard, no one I’ve seen fights like her and that is more valuable than a few more weeks of practice.”

Adora rubbed her chin. It was hard for her to separate Catra her mate from Catra the team member and make an objective decision.

“Who would you recommend if not her?”

“Steelson, we’d gain some veterancy but become a bit more predictable.”

She had a reply ready but clearly thought Catra was the better choice.

“I’ll trust your judgement Reese, I can’t be objective on this one.” She sighed. “You’ll have to announce it though. Cat will never belive me if I announce it.”

At the end of practice Reese called everyone over to her. She stood next to her lending her aura of leadership but it was Reese talking.

“As I’m sure you’re all aware we have a tournament coming up.” Cheering and jeering erupted from the assembled warriors before Reese managed to calm them down again.

“I have put together a roster for the bus. I have to narrow this down to twelve people and you all know I will not ‘give everyone a turn’ these twelve are on the bus because they are the best choice for the fight ahead. I don’t pick favorites, I pick fighters.”

She swept her steely gaze over the assembled team daring any of them to refute her. None did and with a sharp flick she snapped the list straight in her hand.

“The Captain and I will be going of course, after that Mermista, Havers, Aurochs, Daniels.” She paused and grimaced. “Cynthia Daniles, damn twins.” The two twin sisters got into a brief struggle until Adora glared at them and they settled down. “Erikson, De Lange, and Campbell.”

Catra’s head snapped up at the mention of her name on the list, she locked eyes with her and Adora shrugged and shook her head.

Catra frowned slightly but looked back to Reese who met her gaze and nodded slightly.

“That’s the list, make sure you are here at six AM sharp with all your gear packed and ready to move! You all know that I WILL leave you behind.”

The crowd began to disperse towards the locker rooms. “You said you don’t rotate people but our roster has never been the same twice in a row.”

“I don’t want us to become predictable.”

“Also the bus doesn’t leave until seven, not six.”

“You know that, I know that, Mermista probably remembers, but it’s easier to make them all show up early than to get them late.”

“A strategist through and through.” She grinned. “Speaking of, I hope you have a plan for that battle.” She nodded her head at Catra making her way towards them.

Catra looked at her, those feline eyes searing into her. “You didn’t do this did you?”

“Reese made the list, I left it to her judgement because I knew I could not be objective.” She replied truthfully.

Catra turned her gaze on Reese. “You really think I’m ready for this?”

“I do, you’ve trained hard and have improved a lot in such a short time. Besides that your fighting style is unique and will help us a lot as a wildcard. Our opponents will judge you based on your choice of weapons, and you will punish them for this.”

Catra seemed to contemplate this for a long moment before her face hardened with a look of conviction. “I’ll do my best.”

“That’s all I can ask.”

* * *

“Yeah mom I’m on the team for the tournament.”

…

“Adora says it’s live streamed, get Matra to set it up for you.”

…

“No Adora swears she didn’t ask Reese to pick me. I have interrogated her thoroughly and am convinced of her honesty.”

…

“Yeah, I’m nervous it’s a big deal!”

…

“I know, I’m excited too.”

…

“Yeah, I know.”

…

“Love you too, yeah I’ll tell Adora too.”

* * *

“Mom says love you!” Catra shouted from the kitchen to the bedroom down the hall where Adora was packing.

“LOVE YOU TOO!”

“Yeah she says love you too. Yep. Bye mom.” She hung up the phone. “Is that everything?”

“I think so.” Adora said coming into the living room with a stuffed duffle bag in her hand.

She threw it down next to the two bags full of their gear.

One duffle for both of their clothes, she smiled to herself. All her clothing smelled like Adora a little bit now from just existing in the same space or being washed together or whatever. She hadn’t thought about that before moving in but it seemed obvious in retrospect.

“What cha’ thinkin about?” Adora asked, sitting down next to her.

“How we packed our stuff together.” It was easier to say things like that to Adora now, it was something she had to get used to. Just voicing thoughts that she would have burried before for being stupid or weird. Adora would listen.

“Hmmm yeah I didn’t even think about it, your stuff and mine fit into the one so…” She shrugged.

Catra leaned into her mate. “I’m glad you just automatically do things like that, you’ve integrated  _ us  _ into your thoughts so easily.”

“If you haven’t you hide it well.” 

She cocked an eyebrow at Adora.

“You just now shouted down the hall to tell me your mom said ‘Love you’ to me.”

Catra blushed slightly and had to look away.

“I hadn’t thought about it like that.”

She could feel Adora smiling against her neck.

“But I did, just like how you thought about us packing together.” She kissed her neck. “The little things hit us in different ways.”

“I feel like I’ll never get used to this.”

“I never want to get used to loving you, I want it to surprise me everyday, the new depths I find to love you.”

Her heart felt too big for her chest and she squeezed her hands around Adora’s. “You’re a sap.”

She tried to be sassy, but she could hear the wetness in her voice.

“I am a sap.” Adora agreed against her cheek. “Stuck on you like glue.”

* * *

Reese stood at the front of the bus watching her teammates file on. Adora and Catra who had gotten here as early as she had were in the back row. Adora’s head in Catra’s lap and her legs going across the aisle to the seat across from them sleeping like a log. Catra noticed her gaze and smiled back at her. She responded with a nod. 

There was plenty of extra space on the bus since there were only twelve of them so Adora’s appropriation was fine. Mermista was the last one on, looking tired and irritable. She glanced over at Adora asleep in Catra’s lap.

“Why isn’t my pillow aloud on the bus?”

Reese chuckled. “He’s not on the list.”

She made some half-hearted grumbling sounds.

“I assume he’s following us in the party wagon?” That was the common nickname for SeaHawks beat up old van which usually followed the bus on away trips carrying various significant others and friends who were not on the team. “You know you could ride with them?”

“He’s driving, can't sleep on him like that, and I’d never give him the satisfaction.”

She trudged passed sitting in the row ahead of Catra. Reese shook her head and leaned out the door looking both ways. She had counted everyone on and was checking the bagge doors were closed and nothing was left out on the sidewalk. Finding nothing amiss she nodded to the driver and walked back to sit next to Mermista as they pulled away.

“How long is the drive to Mulden?” Catra asked.

“About three hours, think Adora will sleep through the whole trip?” She asked looking down at the conked out captain.

Catra smiled. “She’s not asleep now, she’d roll on her side and put her face against my stomach if she were.”

“I like feeling the warmth on my face.” Adora said without opening her eyes.

She would have sworn Adora was out cold, but couldn’t argue with the evidence. She supposed couples were just like that, they knew each other like that. Mermista didn’t seem all that surprised, though it was hard to tell with her since her face was usually about as expressive as a slab of granite.

“SeaHawk always gets a hardon when I sleep in his lap.”

Catra smirked and pinched Adora’s cheek. “She does too.”

“I’ve never heard you complain about it.” Adora mumbled.

“That’s because I’m kinky like that.”

“Love you darling.” Adora drawled.

* * *

She fidgeted and checked the straps on her gear for the fifth time.

A hand settled on her shoulder and squeezed.

“You’ll do great, I believe in you.” 

She smiled weakly at Adora.

The home team got to pick first, Midland would answer their choice with one of their fighters and from then on the winning team would put forward a fighter and the losing team would follow. This allowed the disadvantaged team to counter pick against them which helped even things up a little and encouraged well balanced teams rather than highly specialized.

Their first opponent was a rapier user, though they used a small buckler shield along with it unlike Mermista. Reese took the fight herself, her two handed axe and aggressive style would overcome the dueling focused rapier. She won handily only allowing a few points past her guard.

Midland would declare a fighter next, Adora, since they had won the round.

Mulden put forth another greatsword user to fight her. Matching weapon for weapon was not a bad tactic as long as you were confident in the skill of your fighter. In this case Adora was the better of the two and she won easily enough. 

Next up was Erikson, a polearm fighter. Reese had picked him hoping his reach would be able to outmatch his opponent. It had almost worked but in the end the sword and shield from Mulden beat him. Mulden put forward another sword and shield their turn to pick after winning.

Reese rubbed her chin in thought. “Mermista.”

She nodded and walked out into the ring. She bumped her gauntleted fist with her opponent and then pulled her mask down. Her rapier rasped out of the sheat with a flash and she lowered into her stance.

“Fight!” The ref called swinging a flag between them.

Mermista circled her opponent who held his shield up between them. She stepped to the side and Catra could see the opening, fabricated she was sure. Her opponent lunged for it though falling for her trap, he didn’t leave himself open though his shield stayed up and between them preventing her from scoring against him. Catra thought that was weak, she would have been more offensive using the shield to widen the opening rather than defending herself.

Mermista it seemed hadn’t been aiming to score on him though, her rapier didn’t try to squeeze around the implacable shield but clashed around his sword deftly flicking the weapon from his hand with a clatter.

“Midland! Three points, disarm!” The referee called ending the first bout.

A disarm was worth the same as a hit on the torso, three points, with the first to twelve winning the round.

Mermista won the round with two more disarms, a two point hit and a one point hit, giving up only four points in return.

She walked back to the bench pulling her mask off grinning to the cheers of her teammates.

“Well done Mermista.” Reese congratulated.

“Thank Catra for that one.” She reapplied.

“Me?” She asked incredulously.

“Fighting you has made me think outside the box, especially against sword and board. So I thought outside the box and realized trying to get past the shield is a fool's errand when I use the perfect weapon for disarming my opponent.” She patted the basket hilt of her rapier. “Though I don’t expect that gambit would work against you, but against a defensive sword and board like him? Definitely.”

“We oughta work on that more later.” Reese said. “Anyway it’s our pick, you’re up Cat.”

She gripped her sword hilt tight and nodded walking up onto the pitch and taking her position in the ring. Mulden got to choose someone to oppose her and they debated a minute before sending up a greatsword.

Trying to beat her, perceived, defense with offense. She bumped her fist to her opponents and dropped her mask into place. Her sword slid out with a well oiled hiss and the world narrowed down to the view over the lip of her shield. The flag dropped and she moved, charging her opponent to get inside the reach of his sword before he could act. Her first swing was blocked but the hasty defense crumbled as she battered his sword away with her shield and jabbed him square in the chest.

“Midland! Three points!”

They stepped back to their positions. The flag dropped again and she charged again.

His sword was there this time but she had been ready for that, it thunked down against her raised shield and she slipped sideways under it to stab upwards between his arms and tagged his chest again.

“Midland! Three points!”

A change this time. She didn’t rush in, his sword was out before him, more defensive but harder to strike with. They circled she lowered her shield slightly, he moved to attack but from his defensive stance it was slow in coming. Her shield deflected it and her sword slid out he managed a frantic block and then another but her strikes came too fast now that she was inside his guard, her shield in his way stopping him from getting the room to swing and her footwarok pressing him until he stumbled backwards out of the ring.

“Midland! Two points! Out of bounds!”

The round went four more bouts, Mulden scoring one point on a glancing blow against her arm and Catra scoring another out of bounds, and a two point stomach hit to cinch the win, twelve to one.

Reality snapped back into place as her mask came up and she shook her opponents hand, he was red faced and sweating.

“You fight like a banshee.” He complimented with a wide grin.

“With teammates like them I have too!” She replied motioning to her team's bench.

“Next time I’ll be ready for you!”

“You’d better be!”

She walked back to her bench and the cheers of her teammates buoyed her up in a raucous clatter of padded armor, rattling sheaths, and the burning press of Adora’s lips against hers. Her blood sang in her veins with the exultation of victory.

“I knew you had it in you.” Reese said clapping her on the shoulder.

She looked out at the faces of her teammates. It was strange, to have so many people that believed in her. 

They believed in her two more times that day and she won two more battles and lost one though it had been close. Midland won in the end defeating Mulden by a fair margin twenty-four to eighteen. Three of those victories were  _ hers.  _ They were all now emerging from the locker rooms buoyant and rowdy and already Catra had heard people searching for nearby bars. Her phone rang, it was her mother on face-time.

“Mom we won!” Adora crushed her face against her cheek so that they were both in frame.

“We saw we watched the whole thing!” Her mother, her aunt, her uncle and Matra and her mate were all there at least briefly in view of the camera.

They had all been watching the bouts.

“They’re leaving us behind.” Adora pulled her towards the others drifting down the street.

“We’re going to celebrate mom.” She glanced between Adora and her phone.

Adora picked her up bridal style and began to jog down the street. “Wait for us guys!”

“My girl is a swordsman!” 

Catra laughed as Adora carried her following the good natured jeering of their teammates while she half cried half laughed with her mother on the phone.

* * *

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This beautiful person made fanart of my fic and I'm like stupid happy about it, go check it out!
> 
> https://twitter.com/Atticus31115053/status/1314268770077216782
> 
> Hey all! A little late in the day but I have just been terminally engrossed in FFXIV lately but I still got this done, and I'm reasonably happy with this chapter despite it being a little shorter than I would like. My PC issues are solved and my new RAM came in, the next big exciting thing in the mail for me is a bunch of accoutrement for my plague doctor costume. 
> 
> The discord has been a lot of fun, if any of you are interested we've had discussions about writing in both my and other works, a libraries worth of fic recommendations, bad medical advice, music chats, and my darkest secret already. So if you want to hang out or just lurk and take advantage of Sathroe's enormous bookmark collection come join us! 
> 
> https://discord.gg/ReJcWW2
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you next week!


	11. Threaten me with a good time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “It’s better if we feed her before too long, she gets cranky when she’s hungry.” Adora grinned.
> 
> “I will claw you too.” 
> 
> “Don-” Catra smooshed her hand over her mouth.
> 
> “Don’t even.” Catra glared at her. 
> 
> Adora waggled her eyebrows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This beautiful human being made fanart! Go look at it and love it and love them too!
> 
> https://twitter.com/Atticus31115053/status/1314268770077216782

Catra awoke in a warm haze.

Adora was sprawled on top of her, and judging by their positions they had probably fallen asleep fucking. They had certainly done a lot of fucking last night after coming back to the hotel from the bar. No one had gotten truly sloshed and they had left without being thrown out. 

She herself had been the recipient of a few toasts on her victories and may have gotten a little carried away, she still remembered everything but there was a dull throb in the back of her head as evidence of her indulgence. It had been entirely unsurprising to her that Reese enjoyed dark beer, not sure if she had acquired the taste on purpose to fit the dwarf motif or if she was just  _ like  _ that. The handle of her axe had ‘And my axe!’ inlaid into the wood and she was always first to recommend marathoning all the Lord of the Rings movies as a team get together. The back of her letterman jacket had ‘Dawi’ written on it which was a dwarf thing from a different fantasy setting. Adora and herself had tried a few different things, amaretto, cider, red ale, she had tried Reese’s beer but the stout had tasted like motor oil so she had elected not to get one for herself.

The sheets were a tangled mess mostly thrown to the floor and Adora was naked on top of her, Catra still had her legs spread and she could feel the evidence of last night's fun sticky on her thighs and stomach, as well as the gentle ache in her core that always came from Adora’s prodigious size after a few rounds. It reeked of sweat and sex and she felt a little gross, but she was warmed by the memories of Adora trying to fumble the keycard into the door as Catra kissed her sloppily, Mermista and SeaHawk doing the same thing a few doors down. There had been no foreplay last night, not even any of their dirty talk about  _ breeding,  _ or anything like that. Drunk and high on victory they had simply gone at it like animals for round after round until they had quite literally passed out. She hugged Adora around her broad back feeling the raised flesh of claw marks on her skin. She would have to remember to clean them when they showered.

Adora rumbled and woke her arms squeezing around her waist.

“Mmmm morning love.” Catra purred.

“G’morning.” She mumbled into her neck taking in a deep breath. “It reeks in here love.”

“Well carry me to the shower then.” Catra rumbled quietly stroking her hands over Adora’s bare back.

Adora laughed but didn’t question as she pushed herself up and pulled Catra close against her chest carrying her into the small bathroom. 

The hot water pouring over her felt like heaven washing away the sweat and stickiness and helping alleviate the ache in the back of her head.

“How are you holding up love?” She asked gently, stroking Adora’s cheek as she stood under the spray.

“Mmmmm a little off, but I didn’t drink  _ that _ much.” She chuckled. “Did you see how many glasses of wine Mermista had?”

“Her and Hawk were almost as handsy as we were by the end of it.” 

“That sounds like a challenge to me.” Adora growled and kissed at her neck. “Red wine always does that to Mermista.”

“I wondered why Hawk was so curious to know if they had a kind she liked.”

“Mhmmm, he knows how to get her in the mood.”

“Are we ever not in the mood?” Catra mumbled as Adora hugged her from behind.

She could feel Adora’s lips smile against her neck. “I can’t help it that you do this to me.”

She chuckled. “You aren’t the only one in this relationship with a terminal case of horny.”

Adora laughed and kissed her neck again. “Are you implying your horny will be  _ lethal?” _

Catra purred. “You haven’t seen me in heat, gods it’s going to be so nice to have you for that, the meds for suppressing it are awful.”

“Mmmm you’ve mentioned that, December right?”

“Yes, we should talk more about that, but we still have time.”

Adora nodded against her. “I’ll be there for you no matter what.”

“I know.” She did know that if she needed Adora, for any reason, she would be there.

They stood together in the shower for a long comfortable moment.

“I’m proud of you.”

Those four simple words had her, she felt her throat tighten with feeling, glad for the shower to hide the welling of tears in her eyes.

“I couldn’t have done it without you or Reese, Mermista and all of them.”

“That’s how friends work darling, they build us up so we can do great things, but you still put in the effort, you still did the work, you still held the sword, don’t you ever downplay your role in this.”

It was the little things like that. Adora had just done that with no impetus at all, she had simply been proud of her and had voiced it. 

She supposed that was love.

She was still getting used to it.

* * *

They were on the bus heading back to Midland, most everyone was half dead from lack of sleep or abundance of alcohol. Adora was curled against her, head in her lap and face pressed into her stomach. Catra was gently stroking her hair as she stared out the window only partly awake herself.

"So she's actually asleep now?" Reese asked looking back over the seat ahead of them.

Catra smiled. "Yeah, she's out cold."

"Looks pretty warm to me…" She replied with a cheeky grin.

Catra chuckled and rolled her eyes. Adora had her jacket thrown over her like a blanket and was curled into her not laying across the aisle like last time.

"Tuckered herself out last night."

"She's not the only one."

They both looked around the bus, Auroch and Havers were passed out against each other, the only other couple who were both on the team and the tournament list. Mermista was  _ sprawled  _ across one of the benches by herself looking absolutely dead to the world, Erikson had elected to ride back in the party wagon with his girlfriend rather than on the bus with the rest of the team.

She felt bad for SeaHawk who had to somehow stay awake enough to drive for three hours. She looked out the back window and saw the van there a little ways behind them driving along just fine.

“I don’t know how he does it either, but he’s never been in so much as a fender bender.” Reese said following her gaze. “Though I think that’s part of the reason Mermista always rides on the bus, she doesn’t want to distract him.”

Catra nodded and looked back forward at Reese. “Thank you, for everything.”

Reese shrugged. “It was nothing, a little paperwork in the right place and some bureaucratic elbow grease will get you anywhere you want if you know how it works.”

“Well I’m glad you do, because I sure as shit don’t.”

Reese chuckled. “You were worth it, I think you’ll continue to be an excellent option for the team and will only improve with practice.”

Reese slipped back down into her seat leaving Catra with a watery smile and trembling hands.

* * *

“Oh lift him up and carry him along!” Tweeks voice carried through the forest as he sang.

“Fire Marengo, Fire away!” Adora and Catra replied together.

“Set him down where he belongs!”

“Fire Marengo, Fire away!”

“Stow him in his hole below!”

“Fire, Marengo, Fire away!”

They sang as they walked through the woods to their little campground Tweek leading them on in song and the two of them returned with the chorus Smiling as they marched with bags and goods in hand full of supplies from the weekend.

They came out into the clearing belting their song out with Bow and Lyn joining in immediately.

“Oh Sally she’s a pretty little craft!”

“Fire Marengo, Fire away!”

“And sharp to the fore and rounded aft!”

Adora grabbed Catra’s ass causing her to squeak and miss the chorus resulting in them descending into a fit of giggling. 

The singing broke up into laughing and jeering.

“Come on get all that shit over here and you better not have forgotten anything!” Glimmer roared as they laughed.

They hauled their bags of supplies over to where she stood by the fire which was already burning. A big dutch oven pot was already in the fire and an assortment of other cooking supplies were spread around her with Bow nearby. They disgorged their burdens pulling out a variety of foodstuff and other accoutrement. 

“Are you worried about them finding their way here without anyone to guide them?” Glimmer asked, looking at the three of them.

Tweek pulled out his phone and looked at it briefly. “Well Trapta has my tracker beacon, whether or not they find the  _ trail  _ is up for debate but finding  _ me  _ shouldn’t be a problem.

“She’ll just use Scorpia to plow through the brambles if they can’t find the path.” Catra replied offhandedly. “They’ll get here when they get here, more importantly what’s cooking?”

Bow slid over an eager smile on his face. “It’s one of my dad’s recipes from when they go camping. Chili with cornbread on top!”

“Fuck that sounds good.” 

“We’ve got all kinds of stuff to go with it too now that you guys have arrived. Sour cream, shredded cheese, onions.” Glimmer said, pulling the items out of the bags as she mentioned them.

“Plus salad and a hefty selection of choices for that, almonds, cherry tomatoes, dressings galore.” Bow continued. “We have quite a feast laid out.”

“They better get here quick, if we have to delay dinner by one minute for them I will murder them.” Catra groaned holding her hands before her with claws extended.

“It’s better if we feed her before too long, she gets cranky when she’s hungry.” Adora grinned.

“I will claw you too.” 

“Don-” Catra smooshed her hand over her mouth.

“Don’t even.” Catra glared at her. 

Adora waggled her eyebrows.

“They’re almost here! Looks like they managed to find the trail.” Tweek called looking at his phone.

Scorpia and Entrapta emerged from the woods at the far side of the clearing. They all called them over inviting them in and the exchange of greetings and introductions began. 

Dinner was served before long, and before Catra had to claw anyone. Scorpia was loud and appreciative of the food at every opportunity. Nothing out of the ordinary for her loud, happy and boisterous. Entrapta spent a lot of time with Tweek It seemed, in much more reserved conversation, she wondered about that but maybe they were just catching up. Everyone was happy and the two newcomers were warmly welcomed.

Adora and her both gorged themselves on food, and she now lay against Adora drowsily staring into the fire while Adora slept leaned against her head. The subconscious flicking of her ears causing her to murmur every now and then making her smile. She caught Scorpia, Bow, and Glimmer talking across the fire, her ear pivoting and tuning in on the conversation.

“Gosh just look at them, that’s adorable.” Scorpia was trying to whisper but her frame was wholly incapable of making a sound under seventy-five decibels.

“So sweet it makes me want to vomit sometimes.”

“Glim.” Bow scolded lightly.

“What? just fucking look at them, that’s cute as fuck.”

“It’s good to see Catra like that, she never got to have things like that before, I’m happy for her.”

“She’s been good for Adora too, pruning back her crazy schedule a bit and learning how to slow down and just relax sometimes. Catra is good at grounding her too, she always holds herself to such high expectations but Catra always cuts through the bullshit and sets her right in a way that no one else can.”

“You guys know she can hear us right?” Glimmer said.

Catra’s eyes were only barely open but they slid over to them across the fire from her. Her ear flicked lazily and Adora mumbled as it tickled her nose.

She almost had to drag Adora into the tent and they didn’t change into PJ’s, simply kicking off their shoes and wrapping the blankets around themselves until they were in the center of a tangled mess with Catra at its center and Adora wrapped around her. It was warm and comfortable and she fell asleep as soon as Adora wrapped the blankets around them.

She woke up early still in the grip of her and Adora’s routine of working out in the mornings before class. Adora was already awake but hadn’t moved from their position perfectly content to lay there with her.

“I hear the others moving, let’s get up, I need to piss anyway.”

Adora chuckled and kissed her cheek. “Did I ever tell you how sexy you are in the morning?”

“I will claw you.”

“Don’t-” Catra smushed her hand over Adora’s mouth.

“I’ll remember not to do that one of these days.” She grumbled.

They managed to crawl out of the nest of blankets Adora had pulled around them and changed into fresh clothes before slipping out of the tent into the early morning sun. Gentle orange light sparkling on the chilly dew decorating every available surface, it would be getting too cold to camp out here soon. Though she wanted to see this forest in the morning covered with cold gray frost. Maybe they could work out a late October camp out. More blankets, maybe a little heat lamp or something.

Tweek was already up poking the fire back to life with a stick.

“Mornin’ Wildcat.” He greeted with a grin.

Her eyebrow cocked slowly and her ears flicked to the sound of someone moving around in his tent. She hadn’t even noticed Trapta sneaking off with him last night. Good for her.

“Morning Junkrat.” She replied. “You putting the coffee on?”

“Yep, twenty minutes or so.” He replied.

“We can get a little workout done in the meantime.” Adora said rubbing her hands over her exposed biceps.

She nodded and they went over to the riverside to start stretching, they hadn’t brought any proper equipment with them of course, but they could still do a little at least just to stay warm until the coffee was ready.

She breathed out as she dropped down elbows out in proper form as she did push-ups next to Adora. She still couldn’t match her athletic mate, but she could certainly do better than when they had started working out in the mornings. She felt good about the progress she had made and working out with her wasn’t quite as arduous as it once had been. Besides if she got up to work out with Adora she got to see Adora workout, which was worth getting up for by itself. The fact that Adora watched her work out was a nice side effect and they had gone back up to their room and had sweaty post workout sex more than a handful of times because of it. 

They had adjusted their schedule accordingly.

“Coffee is hot!” Tweek called over and they stopped and wandered over.

Sitting down next to the fire they accepted coffee from the pot and then added milk and sugar to their taste.

"So you and Trapta huh?" She asked quietly.

He grinned sheepishly. "I missed her."

"Seems like she missed you too. She's not the kind to sneak off with someone, I'm sure you know."

He nodded. "We've been friends for a long time, and recently becoming more." He shrugged. "Don't tell anyone, I'm sure Bow will figure it out but he's smart enough to know what's up. I don't want anyone haranguing her about it."

"Of course." Catra said and Adora nodded in agreement. “Do you really think you’ll be able to hide it?”

He shrugged again. “Like I said I’m sure Bow will figure it out even though he doesn’t know Trapta, It’s mostly Scorpia I’m worried about, she can be a little... intense and Trapta is well…”

“She’s Entrapta, I know.” Catra sighed and looked away in thought. “Probably nothing to worry about, Scorpia was always invested in  _ my _ love life, far as I know she wasn’t on Entrapta too. It’ll probably be her last guess if she notices a change in her behaviour.”

“That’s what she thought as well, I only know Scorpia through her so.” He shrugged. 

They sat quietly for a time before Tweek looked around nervously at the other tents, satisfied none would burst open suddenly he spoke again. “Do you… do you think people would look down on her cause I’m…” He trailed off for a moment but rallied himself. “A beastman?”

Catra frowned, Magikat’s were not technically under the umbrella of the beastman races, their genetic ancestry diverged in a different place, but that didn’t mean they received any less bigotry, though she hadn’t encountered much since coming to Midland.

“No one here will have a problem with it.” Adora said resolutely. “And if they do let me know.”

Her eyes were hard chips of ice fixed on Tweek, full of resolve. 

“You have friends here Tweek, for whatever you need, support, peace…” She gave him her best cheshire smile. “Hiding bodies, you name it.”

He smiled softly, gripping the cup in his hands. “Thanks guys.”

“Anything for friends.” Catra said quietly.

* * *

They walked back into their apartment together, Adora holding an armful of supplies brought back from the camping trip. “Can you check our mailbox?”

“Sure.” She popped open the little box with her key and grabbed the handful of letters inside. Shuffling through them as they rode the elevator up to their apartment, mostly junk as usual, but there was one for Adora.

“There’s one here for you from Mulden Medical.” She looked over the letter as she held the door open for Adora.

“It could be my test results, open it.” She called over her shoulder heading for the kitchen.

“It’s medical information for you.”

“I trust you, I’ve got my hands full.” She said as she began to unload her arms onto the kitchen counter.

Catra felt her chest tighten a little bit with warmth before she slid her claw down the top of the envelope. Pulling the letter out she began to skim over it as she meandered over to join Adora in the kitchen.

“It’s the results of the uh… compatibility test.” She said slowly.

Adora’s head snapped up to her. “What does it say?”

“Test results seem to indicate that your sperm and a Magikat egg.” She took in a shaky breath. “Could in fact be viable.”

Adora wrapped her arm around her back and lay her hand over Catra’s steadying them so she could read over her shoulder.

“Results are not totally conclusive but passing these tests means there is a high likelihood that a viable pregnancy could occur, we would like you both to come back for a more specific and tailored testing when you are back in Mulden again to be sure a healthy and safe pregnancy could be carried out if that is what you want, but results so far indicate that it is possible.” Adora read aloud.

“Catra, this means we really might be able to have a child together… I-I had barely thought it possible even after Dr. Netossa said it might be.” Tears fell on the letter with soft patters. “Catra?”

Adora turned her around to find her mate with a happy smile and tears streaming down her face.

Adora pulled her in close and hugged her tight, rocking her gently back and forth. “The next time we’ll be back in Mulden will be for Halloween, we’ll have to make sure we make an appointment for then.”

Catra rubbed her eyes and cleared her throat a little though when she spoke again it was still a bit scratchy. “You don’t want to go sooner?”

“Do you? We don’t need to for any reason since even if we are good to go it won’t be til after college, besides we’ll have to schedule an appointment in advance anyway and that won’t be far sooner than if we do it around Halloween anyway.”

“You’re right, you’re right, I’m just… happy.” She took a deep steadying breath.

Adora cupped her cheek and tilted her head up to look at her. “Will going sooner make you happy? Because then it’s worth it.”

She giggled and pushed Adora’s hand away. “Stop no, no I can wait, no need to throw all our schedules into disarray just to know a little sooner.” Her hand went and rested low on her stomach. “But we really might be able to… to have a child together, i-if you want to.”

“I already told you I would when we were at the farm.” Adora slid back across the gap between them and cupped her face in both hands, kissing her gently. “I’ve only grown more in love with you since then.”

“We’re skipping steps again I think.” She murmured.

Adora’s eyes bore into her with a glint of mischief. “I’m ok with skipping straight to the honeymoon.”

“I will claw you!”

“Don’t threaten me with a good time!”

Catra leapt on her.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There we are, I'm sure many of you will be happy with that one despite it being a bit short. This week at least I have an excuse I was not simply slacking on my writing this time I have completed the first of two parts for another fic that I'll be posting shortly after this one goes up. I hope to have that done next week as well, but we'll see. In any case that's what's up.
> 
> I may soon be returning to work but I hope to continue on the same pace of updates regardless, I'm pretty happy with the pace I've been able to keep but I do want to get back up to my 5k a week that I was at before.
> 
> Anyway, the discord has been a lot of fun and you can find out about stuff like the fan art and other stuff I'm working on there or just take advantage of the fic section to get recommendations for stuff to read between Tuesdays. Though the hunt to find something as angst free as aCP has still been mostly fruitless.
> 
> https://discord.gg/XG6HUyU
> 
> Come hang out, we've talked about all kinds of stuff and it's a lot of fun.
> 
> Also incase you missed it here is the lovely link to Atticus's fan art 
> 
> https://twitter.com/Atticus31115053/status/1314268770077216782
> 
> Go love them for me because it's nuts to me that they made fanart of my fic.


	12. A Knighthood for your birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Did… did you set this up?” She murmured to Adora.
> 
> “I told everyone it was your birthday and that we were having a bonfire.” Adora said simply. “They all wanted to be out here with you today.”
> 
> Catra wrapped her arms around her mate and buried her face in Adora’s chest, happy tears stinging at her eyes.
> 
> “Tell them that I love them, but I need them to leave so they don’t see me crying.”
> 
> Adora burst out laughing. “I’m not going to tell them to leave Catra. They’re all here for you!”

“Everything is ready?”

…

“Yeah it’s a birthday present.”

…

“No I didn’t pay for all of it myself, a lot of people chipped in for it actually.”

…

“Yeah Reese is picking it up.”

…

“Yeah, thanks Kyle, say hi to Rogelio for me.”

* * *

"Adoooooora." Catra moaned pushing herself farther onto her head. "Let's goooooooo."

Adora smiled looking at her phone to make sure every part of her plan was in place.

"Alright let's go." She said getting up abruptly causing Catra to fall face first onto the couch.

"I feel so betrayed." She mumbled sarcastically into the couch.

Adora rolled her eyes. She picked Catra up, threw her over her shoulder and walked out the door. "Come on birthday girl."

Catra snickered and let herself be carried all the way to the elevator waving at their neighbor as they walked down the hall.

"I like it better when you carry me bridal style." She whined with a dramatic prissy tone like a princess to be pampered.

She leaned in and smiled. "Put a ring on it and it'll always be bridal style."

Catra smacked at her while she laughed.

They walked out into the woods together heading for the meadow where they were having their usual weekend bonfire and celebrating Catra’s birthday as well. 

“Have you been smoking less?” Catra asked her as they walked.

Adora furrowed her brow in thought. “Yeah I have been.”

“Me too, I guess I’ve been less stressed out lately.” She bumped their hips together and smiled at her. “I wonder why.”

“Love you too.”

She smiled and led Catra around the last corner and under the fallen tree out into the clearing.

* * *

Everyone was here, Reese, Mermista and Hawk, Glimmer and Bow, Scorp, Entrapata, Lyn, Tweek, half the HEMA team. They all shouted a discordant ‘Happy Birthday’ at her as soon as she and Adora came into the clearing. Her throat tightened up at all these people here for her.

“Did… did you set this up?” She murmured to Adora.

“I told everyone it was your birthday and that we were having a bonfire.” Adora said simply. “They all wanted to be out here with you today.”

Catra wrapped her arms around her mate and buried her face in Adora’s chest, happy tears stinging at her eyes.

“Tell them that I love them, but I need them to leave so they don’t see me crying.”

Adora burst out laughing. “I’m not going to tell them to leave Catra. They’re all here for you!”

She looked up at Adora and she gently wiped the tears off her cheeks with her thumb, cupped the back of her head and kissed her gently. “Come on let’s not keep them waiting. I want to see you open your presents.”

She made a disgruntled noise. “You didn’t hav-” 

Adora interrupted her with a kiss. “None of that, I wanted to get you a gift, so did everyone else.” Adora held her face in her hands there for a moment smiling at her fondly. “We love you Cat, a few gifts is just a tiny way of showing it.” 

She sighed and leaned forward giving Adora a quick peck before turning back to all her friends and walking towards them to their raucous cheers.

There was food and cake and booze, people sparring or talking or standing on the river's edge. People cheered her as they passed and Catra enjoyed a few hours with her friends, she had never imagined this when she came to Midland. Having this many friends who really cared about her and a mate who loved her. It was a little overwhelming but Adora was always by her side giving her stability.

Reese climbed up on the pile of boulders that had her as yet unopened presents scattered over them. “Alright let’s give the birthday girl her gifts before the sun goes down!”

Everyone cheered and Adora steered her over. She hadn’t realized just how many gifts there were at first, some of them were quite sizable too and she wondered what in god's name was in them. None were wrapped per se all in boxes or wrapped in brown paper like parcels with twine, at least she wouldn’t have to worry about dealing with all that wrapping paper.

Adora stepped forward and picked up a long slender box of black cardboard and handed it to her. “I’m going to shamelessly abuse my position as your mate and ask you to open mine first.”

Catra huffed out a laugh and took the box from her, it was surprisingly heavy and she looked at her mate questioningly, but Adora just smiled and shrugged.

She pulled the lid open and unfolded the tissue paper that was laid over revealing a long slim sword. A black leather scabbard with beautiful silver accents, the pommel was wrapped in black leather and the glint of a pair of gems shone from the hilt. One blue sapphire and the other a yellow topaz.

She took the sword out of the box laying it aside and wrapped her hand around the pommel. It felt good, just like the sword she used for HEMA. With one smooth motion she drew the blade out with a well oiled rasp of steel. The blade shone dully with the smoky reflection of steel and she noticed an inscription on the flat of the blade near the hilt written in flowing script.

_ For love _

She swallowed the sob that threatened to escape her and quickly took a few experimental swings with the blade. It was perfectly balanced and about the same weight as her practice weapon, it felt good in her hand. Almost reluctantly she sheathed it hugging the sword against her chest. 

“It’s beautiful.” She leaned over and kissed her mate before handing the sword to her. “Hold it for me?”

Adora bowed her head dramatically. “It would be my honor.”

Reese was there when she turned back with what looked like a large hat box. “This one is from me.”

Catra took it and opened the box, inside was a steel kettle helmet. A term she had learned from Adora who knew far more than she had thought there was to know about medieval armor. It was a cylindrical helm with a wide brim not a full helm like Adora’s but it did have an armored faceplate with slim vision slits.

“This is awesome Reese, but I can’t wear this without a coif…” She slowly looked up from the helmet to the other gifts. “You guys didn’t…”

Adora smiled as did Reese.

Every gift she opened had another piece of armor not only did she receive both a cloth coif and a chain coif to go over it to wear with the helmet but all the other pieces and accoutrement for a full set of chainmail armor. It wasn’t the full shinning plate mail that Adora had, that wasn’t really her style. They had gotten her chainmail and leather with armor backed leather gloves and plated greaves with thick leather boots. Adora helped her put it all on slipping the chain coif over her head and gently slipping her ears through before handing her the helmet and lastly her sword which buckled onto the thick leather belt keeping the long chainmail hauberk around her waist.

“I knew from that first day at practice that you would look good in armor.” Adora said, stepping back and looking at her.

“I’m the pinnacle of sex appeal right now.” She drawled sarcastically, but she had a wide smile on her face regardless. She flipped the face plate down and looked around testing her vision through the narrow visor. “It does make me feel powerful though.”

She caught Adora's smile. "Sex appeal has nothing to do with it, you just wear it well." Adora shrugged. “Not that you needed any help with sex appeal anyway.”

“Now we can go to the Ren Faire together in armor.” She mused wondering if Adora had planned this from the moment she had agreed to go to Ren Faire with her.

The armor was surprisingly comfortable, it was heavy but being distributed across her whole body she didn’t feel the weight as much as she thought she would. All this must have taken so much time and effort to put together not to mention the cost of it all, she was suddenly glad of the visor to hide the tears welling in her eyes  _ again.  _

_ Everyone is going to think I’ve gone soft. _

She tried to think back to the hard girl standing under the bleachers smoking in the dark that she had been only three months ago. What had happened to her? All sharp edges and distance, hard glares and sarcasm. Now here she was surrounded by friends with a mate, people who knew her, people who cared. She sighed deeply and felt herself lighten blinking away the tears she pushed open the visor again. 

“I can hardly wait to show it off at the faire.”

* * *

Back home and carefully stripped of the armor which now lay spread out next to Adora’s they ended the evening in bed, obviously.

Adora made it clear that tonight was about her, lavishing all her attention on Catra as though she were the only thing in the world. She lost track of how many times Adora pushed her to screaming orgasm before she had to beg Adora to stop.

She leaned on her heavily now panting and shaking and covered in sweat and sex. “I huff I c-can’t feel my leg-gs.”

Adora kissed her sweetly, a drastic change from the way her lips had been devouring her for the past… She looked at the clock,  _ three hours.  _

_ Gods be damned she was on me for three hours! _

She shivered pleasantly nearly boneless in Adora’s arms. “We’ve been at this for three hours.”

“I’m practicing for your heat.” She could feel the cocky smiled against her lips.

“You can practice as much as you like as long as you’re willing to carry me everywhere afterwards.” In response Adora picked her up bridal style and carried her to the bathroom where she had apparently set up for a bath ahead of time now only needing to fill the tub.

She sat on the toilet and tried to pull herself back together, she had never been so thoroughly worked over in her life and she was just trying to steady her heart at the moment and work feeling back into her jellied legs.

“It’s ready, do you need a hand?” Adora asked as she tested the water with her hand.

“The last thing I need right now is your  _ hands  _ on me anymore.” She pushed herself up with some effort and waved Adora in climbing in after her and easing back into her lap. The hot water felt heavenly on her sore muscles and tender slit. “I wonder which one of us will be worn out when my heat comes around, after that performance I don’t know how I’ll manage.”

Adora laughed quietly. “To be fair it will be a lot different if I have to cum too.” She chuckled and Catra could feel the vibration through her back. “Tonight was mostly me getting you off, that’s not how your heat works though is it?”

“No, I suppose now is as good a time as any to talk about it while there’s still time for you to run away screaming.” Adora chuckled and her hands hugged around her waist under the water.

“So tell me about it, I know some things from uh… research.” Adora finished awkwardly.

“Have you been looking up Magikat porn?” She teased in an almost singsong voice.

There was a long pause. “Yes…” 

Catra chuckled. “You know I’ll do anything you like.”

“Well yeah, but what about when you’re in class?” She countered.

“What, you think I won’t send you an upskirt during class?” She grinned pressing her head back under Adora’s chin and purring.

“Do you own a skirt?”

She opened her eyes and frowned. “No.”

Adora laughed.

Catra ignored her. “Anyway, in December I will go into heat for about five days, it can vary a little bit, during that time it will be hard to think of anything besides sex. Normally I would take meds that would kill my libido, but they also turn me into an emotionless zombie for a week and I don’t want to do that.”

“That’s where I come in right?”

She chuckled and leaned back again snuggling into her mate. “Yes, instead of taking the awful meds you will just bang me senseless for five days straight.” She languidly arched her back into Adora craning her head back to look up at her. She made an exaggerated sound of contentment as she stretched her sore muscles. “You’ve got to finish inside for it to work though.”

“So I’ve heard, why is that?”

“Magikat heat is soothed by some pheromone or something in semen being in my womb, and yes your human jizz should be fine.” She sighed, closing her eyes and resting her head against Adora. “It’ll be the first time I won’t have to take the awful meds.” She chuckled. “Though I doubt I’ll get any more stuff done than I would on the meds.”

She could practically feel Adora thinking behind her. The way her hands began to idly rub circles into hers, the slight feel of her lips pressed together against her head. The problem had now become an opponent for her to defeat. “So we should probably stock up on some water, lay up a bunch of food that’s easy to microwave? Maybe energy bars?”

Catra smiled slightly feeling herself drifting off in Adora’s arms. “Mmmm as long as you and your dick are there I’ll be happy.”

* * *

She woke the next morning in bed alone, though she heard the sounds of Adora in the kitchen and picked up the tantalizing scent of bacon and coffee. She didn't smell sex and a brief inspection revealed that the bedsheets had been changed from the ones she had  _ ruined  _ last night, shredded by grasping claws and repeated drenching. She stretched and climbed out of bed still naked walking down the hall to the kitchen where Adora was cooking breakfast.

"Morning love." Adora said as Catra pressed herself against her back.

She smiled and started purring gently, staying there just happy for a long few moments.

"You need to put  _ something  _ on for breakfast."

She let out one last loving purr and pushed away to rummage through their room for the first clean clothes she could find. A pair of Adora's boxers and a t-shirt, before returning to the kitchen where she was handed a cop of gently steaming coffee.

"I love you." She preened happily.

"I love you too."

She sat down at the table and sipped on the coffee. “You’re really making it hard for me to top this for your birthday you know.”

She caught the edge of Adora’s smile as she dumped eggs from the pan onto a plate. “I’m sure you’ll think of something.”

She made an exaggerated hum. “Maybe…” She grinned. “I’ll gift you a nice big strap-on.”

To her surprise Adora took on a thoughtful expression. “It’s been a while so maybe we should start small, but I certainly would like that.”

She blushed. “R-really?”

“Yeah, I’ve dated a couple guys and some of them refused to be on the receiving end, but I’d be willing to try it again with you.” She smiled softly, and then her eyes lit up. “You know, I’ve always been interested in trying it myself, I’ve never gotten to be on the giving end of anal before.”

She blushed bright red, she hadn’t really thought about it before. She’d only ever been with women and had never played with toys before, but for Adora maybe she would try it.

“What uh… how do you start something like that?” She asked quietly.

Adora raised an eyebrow. “I was just joking Catra you don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“No no I want to try, if it’s with you I’ll try anything once.” Her bolush eased and she started eating, it was Adora after all, she could talk to her about anything. Even kinks.

“Well, we should start small. We'll need an enema bulb for cleaning, and some toys. Something small we have to work up to uh my size.” She said with a light blush.

Catra grinned. “Yeah you’re not stater sized.”

“No I am not.” She replied with a blush, far past the point of false modesty with her.

“Good thing it turns out I’m a size queen.” She snickered.

“One of many things I love about you.” 

* * *

“Alright so Ren Faire is this weekend.” 

They were in the kitchen again a few days after Catra's birthday.

“It  _ starts _ this weekend, it lasts for like a month doesn’t it?” 

Catra leaned against the counter stirring her coffee. They had just gotten back from their morning workout and were freshly showered. They both had classes today but not until afternoon so they could relax for another hour or so.

“Yes, I’d like to go a couple times.” She ventured hopefully.

Catra shrugged. “As long as we have time we can go as often as you like.”

“You’ll go that much?” 

Catra smiled at her. “Sure, it hardly matters where we are or what we’re doing if we’re together, besides gotta put that birthday present to use right?”

Adora smiled softly, she was sure Catra would enjoy the Faire, but she was fully prepared to go just for her. “There are all kinds of events that happen on different days so we should try and figure out which ones we want to see most.”

“Is there jousting?” Catra asked sarcastically.

“Yes.”

“Really? I want to see that.”

Adora pulled up the schedule on her phone. “We probably also don’t want to go in armor every time, it’s hard to get the full experience while wearing fifty pounds of plate mail.”

Catra nodded. “You’re the expert here, I’m in for whatever you think will work.”

She smiled. “As long as you’re there it hardly matters.”

Catra laughed at having her words turned back on her.

“Alright, this weekend will be fun. I think most of the others are going to be joining us too.”

“I know Mermista and Hawk said they were going, Reese?”

“Reese’s family is actually involved in running the thing, she’ll be there basically every day and participates in a whole bunch of events. She’s got a kilt and everything.”

“Does she do that log toss thing?”

“Yes, and she’s very good at it.”

“We gotta see that.”

“You’re gunna make me jealous Cat, what about my muscles isn’t good enough for you?”

Catra rolled her eyes and set her cup aside sidling up to her cupping her cheek. “Well what are these muscles doing for me right now?”

She smiled leaning into Catra’s hand and slid her arms down Catra’s sides to grab her ass and lift her off the ground. “How’s this?”

Catra smiled and kissed her softly. “Better, you’ll just have to carry me around when we aren’t in our armor.”

She smirked slightly. “What is with you and being carried?”

“What is with you and my tail?”

As she said this her tail slithered up her thigh making her blush.

“You’re playing a dangerous game Miss De Lange.” She teased.

“Oh yeah? How do you figure that Miss Grayskull?”

Adora spun, switching their positions so Catra was between her and the wall now. Her mouth going to Catra’s neck. “We didn’t have workout sex this moning so time to make up for it.”

“I love you.” Catra breathed.

She smiled and kissed Catra’s jaw. “I love you too.”

Catra started purring as Adora gently began working their clothes off.

* * *

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit late but I blame the folks over on the discord for spending a whole day discussing tropes for a She-Ra mermaid AU and terminally distracting me with that. As if I didn't have enough WIPs we'll add that one to the pile. I'll be returning to work soon so I don't know how that will affect my writing, I may move to just trying to write at least 5k words a week, even if that ends up not being posted chapters? I'm at around 8k this week it's just mostly WIP stuff. I'm not sure yet we'll see.
> 
> If any of y'all are interested in that kind of stuff the discord is a lot of fun, we've got discussions about writing, fic recommendations, Atticus's beautiful artwork for the Mermaid AU we both got hooked on, and more. So if you're interested in chatting or just lurking for Sathroe's huge fic library come check it out.
> 
> https://discord.gg/XG6HUyU

**Author's Note:**

> This was edited by a good friend of mine who saved me from making innumerable embarrassing mistakes, so you can thank her for that.
> 
> Next chapter same time next week!


End file.
